


Dave: Tell Him About The Quadrant(s)

by MissSugarPink



Series: Dave: Kiss The Troll Boy [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: AU, Abuse, Albino Dave, Angst, Awkward Boners, Bulges and Nooks, Dead Characters, Death, Dubcon Kissing, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Light BDSM, M/M, Masturbation, Multi, Now with official tumblr!, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Quadrant Confusion, Quadrant Vacillation, Romance, Scars, Sexual Content, Slow Burn, Tentabulges, davekat - Freeform, self hatred
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2017-08-24
Packaged: 2018-04-23 18:17:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 26
Words: 62,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4886881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissSugarPink/pseuds/MissSugarPink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After making a bet with Strider, Karkat makes it his mission to figure out what quadrant they're in. They do find out, eventually - in very fun ways.</p><p>Explicit warnings will be on chapters with explicit content.</p><p>Act 1: A Bet Made In Haste - Chapters 1-16<br/>Act 2: Terminal Trials and Errors - Chapters 18-???</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Shake On It

Karkat took a deep breath, staring intently at the door. “Alright, you shitspewing dipshit. It’s time. You can do this. Just open up that fucking door and step inside.”

He didn’t go for the knob.

“FUCK!” He slammed his head against the door, groaning. “I just CAN’T. This conversation is going to be so ridiculously awkward and pointless, I don’t see why I should even waste my time.” He groaned, shutting his eyes.

Karkat then promptly screamed as Dave opened the door. Dave stepped aside, his cape fluttering from the swift movement, as the troll fell face first to the floor with a loud thud. “Uh… Yo.”

“Uuuugh…” Karkat pushed himself up, dusting off his shirt. “Fuck you, Dave. You just HAD to open the fucking door RIGHT at that moment.”

Dave laughed, putting his hands in his pockets. “Well, uh, yeah. It sounded like you knocked. What, is knocking not a thing to trolls?”

“Of COURSE knocking is a thing to trolls.” Karkat rubbed his face, taking a deep breath. “Look, face kissing the floor aside, I came here for a specific reason. Sit your ass down and listen to me.”

“Uh, why?”

“Because I am far superior to you in literally every single fucking aspect, and nothing you say can convince me otherwise, you insufferable waste of god tier. Now, go sit on that couch with me. We’ve got some shit to discuss.”

Dave shrugged and went over to the couch. Who knew, this might be entertaining. It was either this or work on some sick rhymes. “Alright, I’m sitting. What discussion topic is it today, oh great leader who’s so much better than me?”

“Gee, sarcasm, the best form of wit.” Karkat sat, glaring at Dave. “The thing that’s so important is sorting out that the FUCK is going on between us.”

“Er… what?”

Karkat sighed, blushing lightly. “Oh come ON, Dave. It’s pretty fucking obvious to everyone that we’ve got… something. It’s getting kind of embarrassing. I think it’s time we cleared this shit up like we were custodians of a waste tossing grub.” 

Dave laughed, shaking his head. “Like… what do you mean? Like, ‘something’? How vague can you get, dude?”

Karkat growled lightly. “Ugh, I mean ROMANCE you fuckin-”

“Woah, WHAT?” Dave rose an eyebrow, sitting back. “Dude, are you seriously trying to bring up those fuckin’ quadrants again? I’ve told you before, Karkat, I do not wanna be messed up in all that bullshit. It makes my head spin every time you start talking about it.” 

“Well, we sort of HAVE to talk about it if we keep acting like we are. I mean, really, we were dancing the other day, Dave. _Frollicking_. Kanaya’s been asking me nonstop if I’ve talked to you and it’s starting to get on my fucking nerves.”

“Like, why can’t we just be best bros?”

Karkat raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“You know.” Dave shrugged. “Like, good friends. Like, the best of friends.”

Karkat smacked his palm against his face, groaning. “Ugh. Dave, that’s what trolls call Moirallegiance." He shook his head. "Seriously, Dave, I've explained this a hundred fucking times.”

Dave leaned back on the couch, rolling his eyes behind those shades of his. “You can’t honestly expect me to sit through your entire multi-hour explanation of how you trolls get it on over a bucket. It’s so fucking complicated. Why can’t you just be like humans? It’s so much easier.”

“Go on then! Go ahead and explain your human romance to me, Dave. I will personally tell you just how full of bullshit your verbal waste chute is.” Karkat crossed his arms, smiling with self satisfaction. Surely, Dave would totally botch this up. But, he grew concerned as he saw the smirk on Dave’s face. “What’s that face for, bulgefucker?”

“Human romance is simple.” Dave put his hands in front of him, drawing a square in midair. “You see that, Kar?”

“It’s a fucking square.”

“Yeah. That’s the ‘love’ quadrant. You see, in this single square, there’s just a heart - but it can be drawn any way you want. Following so far?”

“Sounds like it’s bullshit already.”

Dave chuckled. “You’ll like this part though. See, this single symbol represents all of the 4 quadrants you trolls have.”

“Wait, what?” Karkat uncrossed his arms, staring curiously at Dave. “That’s so not true. Stop copying troll shit, Dave.”

“It is true. I mean, come on, doesn’t it make sense that the world YOU made would have similar romance?” Karkat didn’t have an answer for that. Dave grinned. “So yeah. Human love is all of the quadrants. Moir-whatever it is, Matefucking, BDSM spade shit, and like making sure your partner doesn’t go kill a bitch.”

Karkat sighed. “Moirallegiance, matespritship, caliginous, and auspistice.”

“Yeah, those.”

Karkat rubbed his chin, thinking. Could he really trust Dave to be telling the truth? This shitspewing nookwhiff could easily be fucking with him. But he seemed pretty serious at the moment. Karkat scowled. “That still doesn’t answer what we have, Dave. I mean, sometimes I fucking hate you so much, but I would NEVER IN A MILLION SWEEPS think of dating black with you.”

Dave shrugged. “Sounds like we’re not caliginose then.”

“Come on, Dave, you’re not even fucking trying.” Karkat sighed. “And I definitely don’t LOVE you, because that’s just bullshit. I don’t want to be your ‘best bro’ or whatever because, again, I fucking hate your guts. There’s no chance for auspisticing either, because we have no hope of ever turning black. So where the fuck are we left?”

Dave grinned. “Maybe you human love me?”

“DAVE, I WILL TEAR OFF YOUR FUCKING HEAD AND USE IT FOR GAGGING GAMZEE IF YOU EVER ONCE SUGGEST THAT AGAIN.” Dave fell back against the side arm of the couch, laughing as Karkat grumbled. “We are NOT in human love. We’re not even in TROLL love. We will NEVER be in love. Got it??”

Dave nodded through his laughing fit. “S-Sure thing, Karkat. Whatever you say!” He chuckled, sitting up. “But seriously, dude, we’re not in ANY quadrant. I swear to you, I am not feeling hate love or love love or bro lov- oh god, bro love. Oh fuck get that image out of my head, I do NOT need to think about fucking my brother.”

Karkat rolled his eyes as Dave held his head. “No. No, I won’t accept this. We have SOMETHING going on, and I’m going to make it my duty to find out what. I will figure out what quadrant we are in, no matter what it takes.”

“Dude, I know you won’t be able to. We aren’t in any quadrants.”

“I WILL be able to, ‘dude’. I will be able to figure this out, and then I will rub it in your face until you admit it.”

“You wanna bet?” Dave grinned, crossing his arms. “If you DO find out we’re in one of your fucked up quadrants, then you get to do anything to me or with me for an entire day, and I won’t complain once. BUT,” he said before Karkat could interrupt, “if you can’t figure out what quadrant we’re in by the end of this journey, then I get to use YOU for an entire day without a single complaint from you.”

Karkat gulped, his eyes narrowing. It was a steep price to pay if he lost. But if he won… “Oh, the things I will do to you. You’re on, Dave.” He extended a hand. “Shake on it.”

Dave grinned. “Aw yeah, let’s do this motherfuckers.” He took Karkat’s hand a shook it. The bet was made.

Let the games begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> http://davetellhimaboutthequadrants.tumblr.com/
> 
> This is now the official tumblr for this fanfiction! Please, feel free to follow it. However, this link was introduced just as chapter 11 was posted, meaning there might be spoilers there. Be careful, and enjoy!


	2. Karkat: Observe Human Rituals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat will need to keep a watchful eye on the elusive amorous qualities of Mr. Strider.

Dave yawned lightly, still half asleep in bed. What, really, was the point of getting up right now? There was nothing to do on this godforsaken hunk of rock. Just sleep and make sick fires. Might as well stay dozed off. 

He smacked together his lips and shifted slightly to keep his shoulders up against his pillow. As he did, he felt something on top of him shift as well. Probably just a blanket bump. As he settled down, the thing on top of him shifted as well. _Dafuq?_ Dave opened one of his eyes a bit, taking in the form sitting on top of him.

Karkat scowled. “Finally. Took you long enough to wake up.”

“GAH!” Dave sat up quickly, his eyes firmly shut. “Dude, what the fuck?!”

Karkat squirmed off of Dave’s legs, an eyebrow raised. “I’m watching you.”

“ON TOP OF ME IN BED?” Dave reached over to his bedside and grabbed his shades, slipping them on. He glared at Karkat. “Dude, it is SO not cool to wake up to your fat ass on my legs.”

“Oh, shut your ignorance shaft. I need to observe you if I want to figure out what quadrant we’re in.”

“Dude, what?” Dave shook his head, groaning. “Whatever, just get the fuck off me. Can’t you observe me from far away?”

“No.”

“Fuck you.” Dave rose his legs, tilting Karkat over the edge of the bed. With a shout, Karkat fell off, landing on his back with his legs against the side of the mattress. “There. Now, let me sleep for, like, 20 more minutes at the very least.” 

“Fine. And I will watch you for all 20 of those minutes.”

“You know what, nevermind, I’m getting up.” Dave grumbled, getting up and yawning. He walked right past Karkat to the mirror. He rose an eyebrow. “Karkat, have you seen my cape? I usually have it hanging up right here.”

“...I took it for reasons.”

“WHAT?!” Dave spun to look at Karkat, eyes wide. “Give me back my fucking cape.”

“No.”

“Give. me. my. CAPE.”

“Hmmm… I’m going to have to go with no, with a side order of fuck you."

Dave rubbed his face, mumbling “it’s too early for this,” under his breath. He walked over to Karkat and poked him on his chest. “Look, fucker, just give me back my cape, or _things_ will happen.”

“Gee, I wonder what things. Maybe you’re thinking about sabotaging my day? Maybe even fucking it up with your time shenanigans?”

"Karkat, I will fucking end yo-" Dave took a step back, thinking. “...Wait a minute... You’re trying to goad me into that weird hate-mate thing, aren’t you?”

“What? No, no I’m not, you grubfucker. How dare you insinuate such a fucking stupid thing.” Despite what he was saying, Karkat couldn’t hide the blush that was quickly rising to his face.

Dave snorted, laughing. “You totally are! Aw man, I’ve heard stories from TZ about how desperate some of you trolls can get, but _wow_. That is pathetic, Karkat.” 

Karkat crossed his arms, growling lightly under his breath. “Oh, fuck you, Strider. I'm just trying any way I can to figure out what quadrant we're in. We're not in love or Moirails, so we're probably closest to kismesitude." 

"We're not IN a quadrant. And besides, I've told you before that I'm not into that weird spade shit." Dave went to the mirror again and straightened his shades. "And I'm serious about that cape. Just get it back to me tomorrow - and wash it. I don't know where it's been now.”

Karkat groaned. “Fine.”

“Besides, what did you think you would do? Shove me into a quadrant with you?” Dave shook his head. “Low, Vantas.”

“Just shut up about it already. Not one of my best fucking ideas, I get it." Karkat sighed, rubbing his face. "I can't believe past me thought that would even work," he mumbled under his breath.

"What'd you say?"

"I asked what you were planning on doing today."

“Well, I WAS planning on sleeping, but I guess I’m going to be up now.” Dave rubbed his neck, yawning. “I’ll just go make some new beats.”

Karkat sighed, shaking his head with a roll of his eyes. “Really? Don’t you do that _every_ day?”

“Yeah, basically. What, do you have any better ideas?”

“Literally doing anything else. Your beats are only sick in the way that they're nauseating to listen to." Karkat crossed his arms. “I’m trying to observe you, so why don’t we just, you know, hang out today?”

“Wait, seriously?” Dave grinned as he looked back at Karkat. “Dude, I seriously can’t tell when you’re trying to hit on me. Just a few seconds ago, you wanted to bend me over and hate-fuck me like there was no tomorrow, and now you just wanna hang out. Bros get mixed vibes, Kat.”

“Shut up, you bulgesucking shitface! Just because I’m looking forward to making you my slave for a day when I win this fucking bet doesn’t mean anything. I’m not trying to hit on you! I just want to know what quadrant we’re in. End of story.”

There was a brief pause before Dave grinned. Karkat’s eyes widened as he realized the mistake he had just made. “W-Wait, fuck, I didn’t mean I want you-”

“Too late to take it back, Vantas. You want me to be your slave?” Dave laughed, smirking. Karkat cursed to himself - that is to say, he cursed very loudly while Dave cackled. “Wow, Karkles, I never knew you felt that way! Well fuck me, I shouldn't kink shame. Maybe I should let you win this bet, just so you have something to let that pent up anger out on.” Dave turned his back to the flustered troll, grinning. “Well, if you want to hang out, I’d be up for a movie or something. I’ll go make the popcorn.” Dave walked off, still chuckling.

Karkat shook his head, blushing. “Fucking… Wait… LET me win? Something to let my anger out..,” Karkat looked down as he thought. _Wait… does he… actually think we’re caliginous, then?_ Karkat looked after where Dave left and scowled. “... Cockmunch…” Grumbling, he went to go pick out a movie.

*~*~*~

Dave glanced around the 'kitchen' area - aka, where they kept the food and shit. "Rose, have you seen the popcorn?"

Rose glanced up from her book, moving it so the title was hidden. "It should be with all of the other food, Dave.”

Dave rose an eyebrow, gesturing to all the other food. “But look! What does there seem to be a complete lack of? Fucking popcorn.”

Rose sighed, closing her book and setting it in her lap. “What’s gotten you in such a foul mood, Dave? Lost a game of penis-scotch against Karkat?”

Dave shook his head, groaning. “Nah, the fucker just woke me up this morning in a seriously weird way. Like, dude, privacy. He also stole my fucking cape.”

“Ah. So that’s why you’re walking around so naked. I was wondering.” Dave glared at Rose, who merely smirked and put her book on the couch beside her. She stood and walked over, pulling a packet of popcorn out of the pile. “Might I ask why you’re eating popcorn at such an early hour? You DID just wake up, after all.”

Dave snatched the popcorn, taking the wrapping off and tossing it. “Me and Karkles are gonna watch a movie. You wanna join?”

Rose crossed her arms, smiling. “Oh, no, I wouldn’t want to... interrupt you two.”

“And what the fuck’s that supposed to mean?”

“Simply that I already know about this ridiculous bet you two have concocted. It’s funny, really. I’m surprised you two haven’t started dating already.”

Dave shook his head. “What? Nah, bro. Me and Karkles aren’t in any of his weird quadrants. We’re just pals. This bet is just so I can poke a little fun at him. Maybe fuck him up a little.”

Rose chuckled, sitting on the counter. “Keep telling yourself that, Dave. Knowing Karkat, you’ll have no end to the havoc he’ll cause trying to figure out your strange amorous habits.”

Dave shrugged, shoving the popcorn into the nearby microwave and punching in the time. “I can handle his weird shipping bull. What, are you expecting him to go all out on me or something?” Dave snorted, shoving his hands in his pockets as he looked back at her. “I mean, he already tried to get all black hate on my ass and I saw through it in a snap."

"And what if he's feeling a little flushed?"

"Rose, it's not like he’s gonna wrap himself up in a little ribbon and say ‘we’re red, take me now mister strider’, and then like, I sweep him off his feet and be like ‘hell fucking yes, let’s get this fucking matrimony on’. Even if he's into that bondage shit, I'm not gonna faint dead away if I find him with his legs spread wide and bulge oozing..." Dave stopped rambling, his voice trailing off. 

Rose raised her eyebrow, her smile saying it all. Dave watched he carefully, seeing if she would say anything. The silence was only broken by the popping of the popcorn. The microwave chimed as it was all finished. Dave grabbed the bag from the machine and glanced back at Rose. He broke first. "Not a word of what I just said to anyone, Lalonde."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Mr. Strider." Without another word, Dave walked out. Rose quickly fell into a fit of giggles as she walked back to her book. “Oh, my poor eco-brother. Whatever will he do?” She giggled again and sat down, opening her book once more. "I can't tell what's juicer - this book, or his love life."

*~*~*~

“Dave.”

No response came from the sleeping form.

“Ugh, Dave… Wake up.”

Still no response. Karkat sighed softly, glancing back at the movie. “Ugh… Dumbass keeps falling asleep when we watch these…” He tilted his head as he glanced at the screen. Failure to Launch wasn’t a bad movie, but he understood why Dave dozed off. Maybe he should’ve given him more time to sleep. 

He smiled briefly to himself. He had seen some pretty cute things while Dave was asleep. Karkat glanced over at the sleeping boy again, chuckling. The way he always curled up was adorabl-

What the fuck was he thinking? It wasn’t adorable at all. This fucker was his opponent. He had to win against this dumbass. Blushing lightly, he returned his thoughts back to the movie. Or, at least, he tried.

“Fuck…” Karkat put his arm behind his head, scowling. “Why can’t I stop thinking about you? What are we, Dave?” No response followed. “Yeah, you don’t think we’re anything, but I know we are. EVERYONE knows we are. Everyone except you. I’m not sure WHERE we are, but we’re somewhere, and I need to find it out. It won’t stop bothering me until I do.”

Glad to have said that, he begrudgingly smiled again. Karkat rested his hand on Dave’s shoulder, sighing. “I could see us being Moirails, if you worked at it. REALLY fucking worked at it. Kismesistude would be easy, if you would just accept that you hated me.” He rose an eyebrow and took a long look at Dave. “... Yeah, Matesprit isn’t happening.” He glanced at the T.V again. “And I don’t want to bring anyone else in to auspistice between us. Everyone else on this fucking hunk of rock is trying to sort out their own relationship. They don’t need us fucking it up for them too.”

He glanced down at Dave, his interest in the movie having completely faded at this point. He’d never really paid too much attention to how the kid looked before - humans were disgusting to look at - but now that he looked closer, he had to admit that he wasn’t _as_ disgusting as he had first seemed. 

Dave’s hair was pale - almost white, it seemed - and his skin was just a shade or two darker. He had some freckles, but even those looked pale. Everything about Dave actually just seemed… white. Rose was similar, but her hair was more like light honey. No one had ever commented on it before, but it seemed like Dave was the only member of the living human race to have such weird skin and hair.

Karkat's smile grew as Dave shifted so that his head rested on Karkat's leg. He ran his hands through Dave’s hair once, just to feel it. The sleeping godtier shifted lightly again, raising his head up unconsciously into Karkat’s hand. He chuckled softly, feeling the hair: completely natural feeling. He stopped as his hand bumped the edge of Dave’s shades. It was then that he realized something.

He’d never seen Dave’s eyes before.

_I wonder… if I could just catch a glimpse of them. What if they’re white too, like the ghosts?_ Curious, he moved to take the shades.

His hand suddenly stopped as Dave grabbed his wrist, his reflexes lightning fast. “W-Wha?! D-Dave, were you awake that whole time?”

“Nope. Fast asleep. I just felt you bump my glasses. Don’t take my shades, Karkat. You’re not nearly cool enough.” Dave let go of Karkat’s hand and quickly snuggled closer against his leg, yawning. “Wake me up when he kisses the girl.”

Karkat frowned and shrugged. Dave soon dozed off again. Karkat put his hand on his friend’s shoulder once more and smiled. He would find out another day. For now, he would just observe Dave while he watched a movie.

Observe. Yeah.

"... Maybe moirallegiance isn't that far-fetched..."

*~*~*~

Karkat stretched as the movie ended, glancing at Dave. Still fast asleep. “Lazy asshole. Did you always sleep this much on earth? I don’t think Rose sleeps this much, so it must just be you.” With a roll of his eyes, he stood and walked away, leaving the sleeping form of Dave on the couch.

Karkat kept walking, wandering around the meteor. Nobody was around. Probably off hanging out with their friends. Karkat shook his head. “It seems like everyone’s separated into cliches. Vriska and Terezi, Rose and Kanaya, and Me, Dave and the Mayor…” He scowled. “Maybe THAT’S why they’re so dead set that we’re in a quadrant.”

He stopped and thought for a moment. “But, then again, I know that too. So maybe Dave’s the only blind asshole here.” He shrugged and kept walking, returning to his respiteblock. He punched in the password with a twinge of nostalgia. _If you hate yourself so much, why don’t you just hate marry yourself?_ With a sigh, he opened the door and walked inside, locking it behind himself.

Karkat went over to where Dave’s cape was hanged up. He ran his hand over it, smiling despite himself at its softness. Making sure one last time that he had locked the door, he tied the cape around himself and looked at himself in the mirror.

Bright red. Just like his blood. He put his hands on his hips, looking at himself.

A knight.

Just like Dave.

Karkat groaned, tearing the cape off and throwing it unceremoniously on the floor. “You don’t need to be a god tier. Dave thinks he’s so _cool_ , with those designer shades of his and his shitty fucking cape. I'll bring him down a peg when I prove that we're together."

He sat on his chair, thinking. "But how to do it? He doesn't have any fucking clue what we are. Neither do I,” he added with a grumble. Karkat tried to think of a way to determine what quadrant they were in, but couldn't think of anything other than what he had observed today. 

Dave curled up in his sleep, muttering things as he dreamed. The little bursts of anger he had over the tiniest things. That ridiculous contagious laugh of his that just made Karkat want to smile. 

"There's no way I'm fucking flushed for Dave Strider." Karkat shook his head. "I will never, EVER, be in that quadrant with that asshat." He licked his lips, crossing his arms and leaning back. "Moirails. We’re obviously moirails. I wouldn’t think he was…” He felt himself blush lightly as he shook his head. “I wouldn’t think he was so cute unless we were.”

Karkat cleared his throat, rubbing his neck. “Maybe he has the right idea. Sleep sounds really great right now. Just really fucking nice. I should just stop thinking for awhile." He glanced at his recipricoon and frowned. “Ugh, but I don’t want to shower…” He thought for a minute. “Dave’s always sleeping in a bed or on a couch… His room is free right now… I wonder…”

Karkat grabbed the cape from the floor and unlocked his door, walking outside. He locked the door behind him and went to Dave’s room. This should be interesting.


	3. Dave: Retrieve Cape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave finds Karkat in his room.

Dave yawned, rubbing his eyes under his shades as he glanced around. How long had he been passed out? “Ugh… Fuck, Vantas… Messed up my sleep schedule…” He sat up and stretched, glancing around. “That bastard was supposed to wake me up. Wish I knew what time it is.” He adjusted his shades, feeling marks on the side of his face where his shades had dug into the skin. Woops. Ah well, they’d wear off.

Dave stood and walked around, looking for people. Nobody seemed to be around. Was everyone asleep? “Fuck, did I sleep through the entire day?” He groaned, sighing. "Guess it doesn't matter either way. Time means nothing on this shitty meteor. I should know." Shoving his hands in his pockets, he made his way back to his room. 

This meteor sucked. He was almost always bored, and the trip was far from finished. It’s been too long since he’d seen his god damned best friend. He was trapped here with only Rose and her girlfriend, TZ and Vriska paling around like god damn gals, and Gamzee doing god knows what in that fridge. At least he had Karkles and the Mayor.

 

Oh yeah. Them.

 

Dave stopped in the hallway, leaning against the wall. Karkat did have a point. They had been paling around more than the gals. They had gone past ‘gal pals’ already. They were to the ‘no homo’ line and running full speed towards ‘I’m not gay, but…’. Dave wasn’t blind, he knew they were getting close to each other. But, like, he wasn’t gay. 

Well, no, he was a pansexual, completely different thing.

But, like, he’d never TOLD anyone that. Everyone else thought he was your regular old hetero. He preferred it that way. I mean, how do you tell your eco-sister you’re gay when she’s so busy face-sucking her girlfriend herself? How do you tell your best friend that you had the smallest of crushes on him in the past? Like… awkward. He’d always pretended to be manly and not gay and everything around his friends, so admitting it now just felt like bad timing, to say the least.

Besides, despite his strange sexual secrets, why would he and Karkat hook up? Karkles was absolutely disgusted by the thought of romance with him, and Dave didn’t even want to try and understand his weird troll romance. So his weird crush but not romantic crush but totally absolutely crushing super hard crush would just have to remain a secret, despite Karkat’s best efforts. 

He shook his head and kept walking. He’d figure it out later.

Dave stopped outside of his makeshift bedroom. His heart slowed and he held his breath. His shitty childhood spider sense was tingling; something was in his room. His eyes narrowed and he naturally lowered his body into a fighting stance, ready to tackle anyone - or anything - in his room. He had to be ready for ANYTHING.

Cautiously, he peeked inside, gazing over the edge of his glasses.

"Fuck ya, Dave..." Karkat snored lightly, mumbling as he shifted in his sleep. His legs were spread out on the bed, the red cape trapped between and under them, tightly framing Karkat's ass. His shifting only amplified this effect. His hair was a complete mess on his face, spread around everywhere. Dave was pretty sure he was drooling.

Dave straightened up, surprised, blushing lightly. His mind instantly flashed back to his conversation with Rose. "... Oh my…” He shook his head, trying to get rid of the thoughts. “Are we serious here?" He groaned, walking over to Karkat and gently shaking him. "Karkles. Dude." Karkat grumbled, burrowing deeper into the pillow. "Seriously, Karkat! That's a cape, not a blanket!" 

Karkat grumbled, opening his eyes lightly in a glare. "Grr... Sleeep..."

"Sleep?"

"I don't. Get. Enough of it." Karkat buried his face in the bed. Dave rolled his eyes, shaking him more. Karkat growled, lifting himself up slightly and glancing at Dave. "Strider, fuck off and let me sleep!"

"Oh no, if you get to fuck up my sleep schedule, then I get to fuck up yours!" Dave jumped up onto the bed, straddling Karkat's legs just as the troll had done earlier. Karkat grunted, trying to push him off without success. "Yeah, now you know what it's like, asshat."

"Get the fuck off of me, you whining shitfucking crotchbucket!" Karkat tried to lift himself up higher off the bed. 

Dave shook his head, standing over Karkat. Karkat quickly shifted so he was facing Dave. "I'm getting my cape, Karkles."

"Try it, fucker."

Dave grinned and went in for the kill, grabbing the cape and tugging on it hard. Karkat screamed and thrashed around. "Stop throwing a wriggler fit," Dave shouted, "and just give me it!"

"You're not getting it back! I'm cold!" 

"Then use the blankets!!" With a hard tug, Dave pulled the cape mostly free of Karkat. "Ha! Strider one, Karkles none!" He laughed, glancing at Karkat. As he did, his eyes widened.

"Grr... STRIDER!" The cape was tangled in Karkat's horns, leaving the trolls face covered. "S-Strider, get this off of me!!"

"Aww." Dave grinned, laughing. "How cute."

"FUCK OFF STRIDER. And by fuck off I mean get this cape the fuck off now."

Dave shook his head, still chuckling. "It's what you get for stealing it! Alright, calm your tits." Dave leaned forward, cupping his hands around Karkat's horn. He heard Karkat gasp under the cape and rose an eyebrow. "You alright there?"

"J-JUST HURRY UP!"

Dave shrugged, grabbing the clump of cape surrounding his horns. With a smirk, he started to lift up the cape as slowly as he could. It rubbed up against Karkat's horn gently. 

Karkat bit his lip hard under the cape, blushing. "F-FUCK, Dave, h-hurry up!"

"Nope. Suffer for taking my cape!" Laughing, Dave pulled the cape off, moving to the other horn. He gripped this one as he had the previous one, his fingers gently grazing the tip as he squeezed. His grin dropped as he heard a hastily stifled moan. 

…

"... OH." Blushing, Dave quickly pulled the last bit of cape off, tugging it away.

Karkat glared at him, blushing brightly. "... Get the fuck out, Strider."

"... It's my room." 

Karkat growled and stood up, shaking his head. "Fine! Just... Don't EVER speak of this, EVER. Take your fucking cape that you so desperately fucking needed."

"Oh shut up, Karkles. You only had it cause it smells like me."

Karkat screamed in anger, holding his head. "NOT LISTENING TO YOU, BULGEFUCKER." With a growl, Karkat walked out of the room.

Dave cleared his throat, still blushing lightly. "... Heh. Cute moan."

*~*~*~

Dave peeked into Karkat's room hesitantly. Yep. There he was, hunched over a book, concentrating intensely on it. He was starting to turn into Lalonde. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “Yooo.”

Karkat jumped, dropping the book in his hands. “STRIDER.” He growled lightly. “What do YOU want?” He stood, blushing lightly. Dave tried to ignore how cute the troll looked when angry. “How the fuck did you even know the password?”

“You left it unlocked when you walked in. Don’t worry, I don’t know the password or anything. Dude, I just wanted to talk, alright?”

“There. You’ve talked. Get the fuck out of my room now.”

“Nah dude, I haven’t said what I need to.” Dave walked in, shoving his hands into his pockets. Karkat huffed, grabbing his book and looking back at it from his spot on the floor. Dave scowled and squatted down. “Hey.”

“Not listening to you, jackass.”

Dave took a deep breath and put his hand under Karkat’s chin, forcing him to look up. Karkat seemed surprised by the touch. “Look dude. I’m… sorry I fucked with you earlier, alright?” Dave dropped his hand. “Just kinda pissed off lately. This spacey road trip is putting me on edge.”

Karkat paused a moment before responding, dropping his gaze down again. “Yeah, well, you think it’s not putting ME on edge? I’m just as angry right now as you are.”

Dave rubbed his neck, standing straight up once more. “Yeah, you have every right to be. Guess what I’m saying is sorry. So yeah. Sorry?”

Karkat sighed, glancing back up at Dave. Dave didn’t meet his eyes, just watching the wall as he rubbed the back of his neck. _He’s looking cute again._ Karkat shook the thought out of his head and stood up. “Alright, I forgive you, you cocksuck. Now get out of my mother fucking room. I’m trying to READ.”

Dave grinned, glancing back at Karkat. “Heh. You really ARE becoming Lalonde.”

“Oh shut up!”

Dave shrugged and walked to the door. He glanced back once. “By the way…” He smiled softly. “My cape looks great on you.” He walked out without another word.

Karkat watched him go. “... Fucking asshat.” He picked up his book and sat in his pillow corner, finding where he had left off. Despite what he’d said, he smiled a bit at the compliment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gooood I finally did something holy cow. It's been too long since I worked on fanfictions, and today I wrote two chapters of things. I'm so excited. Here's a chapter to kick off a great New Year, folks!


	4. Dave: Conceal Boner

Rose knocked on the door, a small smile on her face. “It’s me, Karkat.”

The door slowly slid open. Karkat stood there, looking curious. “What brings you out here, Rose? I figured you and Kanaya would be busy trying to find new ways of shoving me and Strider together.”

“Oh, Karkat, that’s easy enough for me to do while I run some errands.” Rose held up a book, her smile only growing. “I'm finished with this one, and I think you’d enjoy it.”

Karkat took it from her hands, glancing at it. “Where’d you get this thing? It wasn’t in the reading pile.”

“Kanaya alchemized it while on the meteor before we all came together. She was more than intrigued about humans, and wished to know more about our types of romance.” Rose scrunched up her nose. “This book is rather… bad at explaining some of the blacker parts of our romance, but as you’ve admitted to being enamoured with black romance, I imagined you would enjoy it.”

Karkat flipped to a random page, scowling as he began to read. “Rose, did you just forget or casually ignore the blatant fact that I don't know fucking shit about human anatomy? I don't know half of these words.”

Rose shrugged, crossing her arms. “Read it if you want. I only supplied the book.” She giggled softly, turning and walking away. “Enjoy it, Vantas. It’s something new, after all.”

Rose kept walking, turning the corner and giggling softly. “I believe this plan will work splendidly, Kanaya.”

Kanaya was smiling, albeit looking confused. “And that... strange black romance book will bring Dave and Karkat together?”

“Even if it doesn't, Kanaya, it’ll be hilarious to watch.” Rose smirked, letting her hands drop to her sides. “Besides. Now I'll have something to discuss with Dave. He’s sure to express some feelings over this.”

“Which feelings?”

“Embarrassment and lust, Kanaya. And perhaps a bit of shame.” Rose took her girlfriend’s hand. “Let's go make some coffee. Maybe we can discuss this over snuggles.”

Kanaya liked that idea.

*~*~*~ 

Karkat knocked on Dave’s door, the book tucked under his arm. “STRIDER! I NEED A FAVOR!”

Dave opened the door, shirtless, a towel around his neck. 

…

“Dave, put a shirt on.”

“Why?”

“Because your weird chest knobs look ridiculous.” Karkat pointed to Dave’s stomach. “And that hole in your stomach frankly just weirds me the fuck out.”

Dave laughed, shaking his head. “Karkles, those are my nipples and my belly button. Do you seriously not have those??”

“You seem to forget that I was made by the fucking incestual swill my planet deems ‘reproductive material’, and not by your gross mating system.”

Dave scrunched up his nose. “And you’re saying our sex is gross. Do you even listen to yourself, dude?”

“Just put a fucking shirt on!”

“Fine, fine, whatever dude. Just can’t stand looking at these abs, I can dig it.” Dave crossed into his room, putting on his god robe again. Karkat walked in, glancing around and pointedly not looking at Dave. His room was pretty sparse, as always. Karkat's eyes centered on the somewhat opened closet. That was weird. “Sorry ‘bout the towel an’ all, was working out and it's just habit of take off the shirt at this point.”

He tore his eyes from the cabinet to roll them. “I really don’t give a shit about what you do in your free time, Strider.” Karkat sat on the bed, taking the book out from under his arm. “In any case, Lalonde lent me this book to read, but I don’t understand any of this human bullshit. I need help reading it.”

Dave rolled his eyes, donning his god robes. “Really, dude? You want me to read you one of Rose’s shitty books?” He walked over to Karkat, glancing at the book. “It’s probably just one of her boring wiza…” His voice trailed off as he read the cover.

“... What? You look even paler than your pasty white ass usually does.”

“Is… I-Is this 50 Shades of Grey?”

“Uh… Yeah. That’s the title.”

Dave couldn’t contain a blush and a grin, laughing. “Damn! I didn’t think Rose would be into… Actually, yeah, thinking about it, she would TOTALLY be into weird kinky shit like that.”

“Kinky?”

“Uh…” Dave sat next to Karkat, rubbing his neck. “Yeah. Like, she’s into weird stuff when she’s... er… ‘pailing’.”

“Oh…” Karkat’s nose scrunched up. “Ew.” He shook his head. “Whatever. Will you help me read this or not?”

“Uh…”

Dave thought about this for a moment. On one hand, he could go with his gut reaction and say ‘hell fucking no’ to avoid the awkwardness that he was POSITIVE his ecto-sister had orchestrated. He could kick Karkles out of his room and tease Rose later for her obvious BDSM fetishry…

But, on the other hand, he could be the one to teach Karkat what BDSM is on his own terms, instead of what Lalonde might tell him later.

“... Sure, why not?” What could possibly go wrong?

*~*~*~

This was NOT a great idea.

Dave was sitting up on the bed, the book in his lap. Karkat watched in captivation. His voice was already starting to get hoarse from speaking. He’d have to take a break soon. Not to mention, Karkat really knew NOTHING about humans. “He puts his arms around me,” Dave continued, “and hauls me against his body, squeezing me tightly. One hand remains in my hair, the other travels down my spine to my waist and down to my behind. His hand flexes over my backside and squeezes gently. He holds me against his hips, and I feel his erection, which he languidly pushes into me.”

“Wait, what’s an erection?”

Dave looked up, eyebrows shooting up ever so slightly. “Uh… What do you mean?”

“What the fuck do you think I mean?”

“But well…” Dave shook his head, rubbing his face to try and get the blush there to fade. Why was this so weird? He had already had to explain condoms to the troll, so he supposed this would be the next topic. “Okay. Well, you know like… how trolls have bulges?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, humans have erections. Well… They have dicks. They’re… well, you must know! You’re like... a dude troll, so I guess you have one.”

Karkat frowned. “Dave, my tenta-bulge and your human erection are probably nothing alike.”

Dave took second to process that. He felt like his brain had stopped working. “... Tenta...bulge?”

“Yeah. Like a tentacle?” Karkat crossed his arms, scowling and blushing very softly. “Geeze, Dave, I thought you knew more about us by now. Trolls have tentacle bulges. How else are we going to fill our buckets?”

“W-Wait, ALL trolls have them? Even the girls?” Dave felt himself blushing worse and worse. Did that mean Kanaya and Rose… He didn’t want to think about that. What would a tentabulge even LOOK like? No, scratch that, he wanted that image out of his head.

“Uh… I mean, I guess? It would make sense… I don’t know, my lusus never really taught me much of this, and I wasn’t the most sociable wriggler.”

Dave gulped, unable to shake the image of Karkat with a tentacle dick from his mind. Just… It had him… curious? Would it be his skin color, or the color of his blood? How big would it be? Was it slimey? He couldn’t get rid of the image of Karkat’s bulge out of his head. What did it… taste… like…

Oh no.

Oooooh HELL no.

Dave felt himself start to panic internally.

_Oh shit._

_I have the WEIRDEST boner right now._

He repositioned his robes, clearing his throat and moving the book to hide the tent forming in his pants, his face bright red. “L-Let’s just keep reading, okay?” He did NOT know how to deal with this. 

“But I still don’t get what an e-”

“It’s just a long, hard, really fleshy human pipe that lets loose our genetic material, okay? And only the boys have them, so yeah. MOVING ON,” he said quickly, before Karkat could say anything else. He looked to where he’d left off. “Uh… He eases me toward the bed, until I feel it behind my knees. I think he’s going to push me down on to it, but he doesn’t. Releasing me, he suddenly drops to his knees. He grabs my hips with both his hands and runs his tongue around my navel, then gently nips his way to my hipbone, then across my belly to my other hipbone.” Dave licked his lips, trying to think about anything that would calm him down. Cold showers. His bro. 2 midgets shitting in a bucket, just anything to clear his mind of Kar-

“What’s a navel?”

 _God damn it._ “It’s that hole in my stomach. Moving on.” He cleared his throat, shifting around a bit again to keep his boner hidden. He spoke a bit faster, trying to get through this sex scene as fast as he could. “Seeing him on his knees in front of me, feeling his mouth on me, it’s so unexpected, and hot. M-My hands stay in his hair, pulling gently as I try to quiet my too-loud breathing. He gazes up at me through impossibly long lashes, his eyes a scorching smoky gray.” _Just like Karkat's._ Dave cleared his throat. “His hands reach up and undo the button on my jeans, and he leisurely pulls down the zipper.”

Try as he might, Dave couldn’t get Karkat out of his mind. What was it about that tentacle-dick that stuck with him? All he could imagine was Karkat, slowly pulling down his jeans, licking up his hard, hot cock… God, he could practically see the way the troll’s cheeks would bulge out as he sucked…

“Dave?”

Dave jumped, blushing. “E-eheh, sorry bro. Just got lost in thought. T-This stuff is weird to read.” He shook his head, looking back to where he left off. “uh… W-Without taking his eyes off mine, his hands move beneath the waistband, skimming me and moving to my behind. His hands glide slowly down my backside to my thighs, removing my jeans as they go. I can’t look away. He stops and licks his lips, never breaking eye contact. He leans forward, running his nose up the apex between my thighs. I feel him. There.”

Somehow, some way, Dave kept reading. The blush on his face was permanent for the time being. Karkat watched him and the book curiously. “He undoes the buttons of his jeans and slowly pulls his jeans down, his eyes on mine the whole time. He leans down over me and, grasping each of my ankles, quickly j-jer-” He cleared his throat as it cracked lightly. “- jerks my legs apart and crawls onto the bed between my legs. He hovers over me. I am squirming with need.” Dave chuckled, licking his lips and trying to calm himself down. “T-Tryin’ t’get that pussy there, Grey?”

“Pussy?”

“It’s the girl’s vagina.”

“Vagina?”

“Ugh, Karkat, you’re fucking clueless. Her uh… nook? I think that’s what you guys call it.”

“Oooh.” Karkat nodded, frowning. “But why is he putting his mouth there?”

Dave shook his head, looking at the troll. “Karkles, humans do this thing called oral sex. It’s where you take your mouth and… s-suck… on whatever part that human has. So, like… If you want to pleasure a girl, you lick and suck and bite at her… uh… ‘nook’, I guess. And for dudes you suck their ‘b...bulge’.” God DAMN his boner was not going down anytime soon.

“Weird… That’s not normal on Alternia, I don’t think. We just try to harvest genetic material… Wait!” Karkat’s eyes widened. “Why would the girl only suck the bulge then and not the nook?”

“Karkles, what do you mean? Boys don’t have no-....”

“Uh, yeah we do.”

Dave couldn’t breathe. “You… both…”

“What, you don’t have both? What, are you fucking broken?”

“I CALL BREAK TIME!” He tossed the book over to a now very confused Karkat, sprinting out of the room. 

Karkat frowned, looking at the book. “... This book is _really_ fucked up.”

*~*~*~

Karkat looked around the hallway, scowling. “Strider?” 

No response. Karkat shook his head. “Come on, you need to finish reading shit this to me. You just ran out!”

He heard a noise as he passed by the bathroom door. It sounded like… he wasn’t sure. “Dave? You in there?”

He heard a hasty gasp. “K-KAR, NOT NOW!”

“Strider, come on! You weren’t finished reading!”

He heard an exasperated groan from the other side. “J-Just g-give me a minute dude.” Karkat scowled, putting his ear to the door. Dave sounded REALLY breathless. Had he really ran all the way here? “G-God, fuck…”

“Dave, are you alright? You sound really fucked up right now.”

“J-Just taking a shit dude. Just leave me alone, alright? I’ll be there in- ga-ah- A-A minute!”

Karkat shook his head, nose scrunching up. “Ugh, whatever. Just come back to the room when you’re done.” Grumbling about puny human wastesacks, Karkat made his way back to the room.

Meanwhile, Dave sighed in relief as his boner was now ‘dealt with’, so to speak. He rubbed his face, blushing. He _really_ hoped Karkat hadn’t heard EVERYTHING. He was pretty positive he had said his name when he… 

He shook his head and pulled up his pants after cleaning himself up a tiny bit. He looked at himself in the mirror, taking in the red flush staining his cheeks. He knew he would have to go back into the room and read the rest of that shit to Karkat. He would probably get just as aroused because his mind couldn’t stop thinking about his best friend’s dick. Tentacle. Whatever it was. This would probably be a theme for the next for weeks, months, and or years.

“Man… _Fuck_ puberty.”


	5. Rose: Watch Events Unfold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose is pretty sure she wasn't supposed to hear that.

Dave walked into the living area, plopping down on the couch unceremoniously. It had taken what he assumed to be about 3 days to read the whole book. 3 days and 1 homoerotic wet dream to rival even the gayest fanfictions. “I'm glad that's finally over,” he said with a sigh.

“Glad what’s over?”

Dave leaned his head back, glaring at Rose as she walked in. “Oh, the bondage bitch shows her face. Et tu, Lalonde?”

Rose giggled. “That reference only works if you trusted me to begin with. I suppose I should be flattered.” She sat on the edge of the couch arm, crossing her legs. “What’s gotten you in such a foul mood?”

“Don't pretend you don't know.”

“Oh?”

Dave crossed his arms, watching her and scowling. “You gave Karkles that fucking book.”

She smirked. “I have lent him quite a few books now.”

“Rose, stop dodging the topic.” 

She giggled again. “Very well. Yes, I gave him that book, and yes, I knew full well he would go to you to have you read it to him. My plan worked perfectly.”

“Well, fuck you. That shit was messed up.” Dave shook his head, nose scrunched up in disgust. “Half the time he was practically raping her.”

“I know. It started promisingly, but fell flat quickly.” Rose leaned back, watching her ecto-brother with a smirk. “But the point was for Karkat to learn more about your body, and you of his. Judging from the way Karkat told me you ran from the room after learning about his physiology, I imagine my plan worked.”

Dave sighed, blushing brightly. “I just… needed a break.”

“A break to beat it?”

“ROSE!” The Seer cackled, holding her stomach. “Ugh, laugh it up! Yeah, I needed a fap break, okay? Anyone would need one after reading that bullshit. It wasn’t for any other reason.”

“Oh, Dave, why do you deny it so much?” She smiled, relaxing, her hands resting in her lap as she watched him. “It’s obvious at this point that you have feelings for Karkat.”

“I’m not into dudes.”

“Dave.”

“What?”

“You are into men.”

Dave shrugged, looking at her from behind his shades. “Tell that to TZ. Me and her flirted up a storm back during the game. If she wasn’t gal-fuckin’ Vriska all the time, me and her would probably totally be a thing.”

Rose rolled her eyes. “Still, you can’t deny that you like men, Dave. You might be interested in females as well. Perhaps you’re bi?”

Dave sighed, rubbing his face. He was too tired to deal with this bullshit right now. “Fine. You know what? Yeah, I’m bi.”

 

Rose nearly fell off of the couch. “W-What?” Her eyes widened, and she looked incredibly proud of herself. “Dave, I-”

“Yeah, it ain't no lie.” He smirked. “I’m bye bye bye, bitch.” Humming the ‘N Sync song, Dave rolled off of the couch and dropped to his feet in one fluid movement, walking out of the room while flicking her off. Rose watched him go, utterly speechless for a long while. When she finally regained the capabilities of speech, there was only one thing she could say. 

“He needs to stop rolling away from his problems.”

 

*~*~*~

 

Rose sighed contently, flipping the next page of the quadrant book she and Kanaya had been reading through. “Hmm… So to properly show black romance, kismesises insult the other until the tension grows too strong to ignore. Interesting.” She giggled, easily imagining Karkat and Dave reaching that point.

“ROSE!”

Speak of the devil - one of them, that is. Rose sat up, bookmarking her page and looking over at the troll as he walked in. “What might I do for you, Karkat?”

He looked uncomfortable. “I need to discuss something with you.”

“Oh?” She smiled. “Would this something be poor Mr. Strider?”

Karkat sighed, sitting down on the couch next to her. “Yeah.” He scowled. “But this isn’t more of that quadrant searching bullshittery. This is actually serious.”

“Oh really?”

“I mean it, Lalonde. Dave has me… actually kinda worried.” Karkat rubbed his neck, looking down a bit. “Have you noticed him being… weird?”

Rose raised an eyebrow, thinking. Now that he mentioned it… “The Dave I knew long-distance through Pesterchum was a never ending ball of energy. He would constantly be working on _something_ , even if it was just his fascinating collection of dead things and music.”

“Yeah, and now he’s just a lazy ass who sleeps all the time.”

Rose rubbed her chin. “I mean, we all sleep a lot now that the game is on hiatus, so to speak. There’s not much to do except for sleep, read, and remember the past.”

“I know, but well… Ever since I started keeping track of his sleeping patterns, I realized how much he’s been sleeping.” Karkat held up one hand. “Each finger is a set amount of time, right? Now, Rose, you usually sleep around this much time.” Karkat held up three fingers.

“Yes?”

“And Dave sleeps this much.” Karkat spread all five of his fingers out. 

Rose scowled. “So he sleeps almost double the amount that I usually do… You’re right, Karkat. This is actually a bit of a concern.”

“At first I just passed it off as him being lazy, but… Well, the one day I asked him if he would read that book to me, he was working out. Lazy people don’t work out. They sit on their asses and shove food in their mouths.” He glanced at her again. “Speaking of food, did you realize he’s got like… a little hoard in his room?”

“A… hoard?” She pursed her lips, crossing her arms. “Is that where all my twizzlers went off to?”

“Yeah. I watched him one day - he stole a bunch of food from the stash like it was sacred fucking gold and ran off to his room with it. When I was in his room, I noticed the closet was a little bit open and there were some shiny wrappers in there.” 

“You… actually took your observations pretty seriously.”

“Well duh.” He frowned. “I just… None of that is _normal_ , is it?”

“Not for him, as far as I know. Perhaps you should confront him about it?” She thought for a moment. “Dave has always been very good at dodging his problems, however. It's hard to get a straight answer from him.”

“I've got that handled, Rose. Just watch - I’ll get Dave to be straight with me.”

Rose couldn't help but crack a small smile. “And then you’ll get him to be homo with you instead?”

“Oh, shut up.” 

 

*~*~*~

 

Rose smiled as she walked through the hallways. It wasn’t a long walk back to her room, thankfully. Not long till she could just lounge in her pillows and perhaps practice some more violin. She was getting quite proficient at it now - though, she had already been very good at it before the game began. 

She stopped as she heard someone talking.

“... can’t believe… on him.”

She recognized that as Dave’s voice. Smirking, she walked a little further, peeking into one of the side rooms. 

Dave was pacing, and hadn’t noticed her. He was gesturing wildly with his arms, and he was all alone. He’d picked up the habit of talking to himself. It made eavesdropping _very_ fun. “I mean, why him of everyone else?” He sighed. “Well let’s see… TZ is available, but she’s with Vriska.”

What on earth was he doing?

“And Vriska… yeah, no, I don’t see me and her really ‘clicking’. Gamzee’s insane and wants to kill me. Kanaya only wants the pussy.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong.

“The Mayor is too busy with his mayoral duties to even THINK about that sort of thing.”

Oh, Dave. Sigh.

“Rose, Vris, Mayor, TZ, Gamzee… And Karkles.”

… Oh. Rose smiled. He was trying to justify his little crush. How adorable.

Dave groaned, rubbing his face. “God damn it… He had no right being that hot.” There was absolutely no way he could admit to not being Bi now. “He’s just… GAH. And that sexy little moan…” Information she would have to use against the both of them. “I just…” He sighed.

 

“Why does he have to be so much _better_ than me?”

 

Rose felt her heart stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DUN DUN DUN
> 
> (Little do you all know, I have no idea what I'm doing, so that ending was NOT planned at all and just sort of happened.)


	6. Dave and Rose: Continue Avoiding Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What? Where you expecting them to talk about this?
> 
> No. In times like this, the only thing they know what to do...
> 
> _Abscond._

Karkat had to admit - this _was_ pretty nice.

 

It was another movie day. This time, it was The Proposal, one of Karkat’s personal favorites. However, the movie was starting to become far less important. 

“Zz…” Karkat smiled, his fingers idly running through Dave’s soft hair. It felt like he was petting a feline beast from Alternia. Nearly the same color fur, and the same sort of softness. While he had originally been a bit disgruntled about Dave’s constant sleeping through their movie times, the trade off… wasn’t that bad.

Besides. It gave Karkat time to think.

It’d been about two weeks since he and Dave had read Fifty Shades together. Things had gone back to an uneasy ‘normal’ between them. They had formed a sort of routine. Every day, one of them would wake the other one up. They would… for lack of a better term, flirt with each other until one of them got pissed off enough to suggest they do something else. Then they would just hang out for the rest of the day. 

The rest of the ‘crew’ was normal too. TZ and Vriska were still sparse, talking about god knows what together in back rooms. Mayor was still hard at work on his new Can Town. Gamzee was honking in his fridge. The only one acting strangely lately was Rose. 

Karkat frowned. She’d been avoiding him and Dave. On one hand, he was thankful she’d finally took his advice and fucked off. On the other, he was worried. She had been dead set on watching your sordid little shipping bullshittery unfold - and now she was almost never around. What had happened to her?

Karkat looked away from the movie, watching Dave as he snored softly. He was curled up in a little ball, his hands curled up in fists. He looked so peaceful. Karkat couldn’t help but grin as he saw Dave was drooling. “Heh. Dork.” 

He glanced back at the movie, scratching Dave’s head lightly. He heard a soft mumble from the human, followed by a pleased sigh. Karkat stopped. What was… He started to scratch again, dragging his nails over Dave’s scalp lightly. Dave sighed again, a soft smile rising to his sleeping face. Karkat smirked.

 

Oh _hell_ yes.

Payback time.

 

He began to scratch, just softly. Dave shifted slightly, but didn’t wake up. He was supposedly a light sleeper, but Karkat guessed he was just fucking exhausted. Karkat kept scratching and Dave kept smiling. “Mm…” He hummed softly in his sleep. Karkat’s grin widened.

Slowly, very slowly, his hand started to stray to Dave’s ear. He traced Dave’s skull, the movie forgotten. The smile on Dave’s face was driving him on. Slowly, he ran a nail down the curve of Dave’s ear.

It was now that Karkat realized that Dave was blushing.

He struggled to stifle his giggle as he kept stroking Dave’s ear. The pale skin didn’t let him hide anything. “Mm, Ka… rkles…” He felt his heart beat a bit faster as Dave whispered his name. Come on… Come ooon….

Getting impatient, he pinched Dave’s ear between his nails, scraping against the flesh.

“N-Nn-” Dave shivered, moaning softly. Karkat quickly drew back his hand, but only to cover his mouth. 

… Holy shit.

Holy _SHIT_.

That was hot.

…

“I’m… fuck. You’re…” _I think I like you._

“Mm…” Dave yawned, sitting up. Karkat felt his heart turn to ice, the rapid beating a thing of the past. Had… Had Dave been awake? Dave stretched out, rubbing his ear. “Gg… Must’a slept wrong again. My glasses nicked my ear.”

Karkat breathed a sigh of relief, turning back towards the movie. He felt like he was blushing. God, he hoped he wasn't'. “You should just take those shitty things off. They don’t make you look any cooler - they make you look like a douchebag.”

Dave shifted, leaning his back against the couch and glancing at Karkat with a groggy grin. “Heh. You’re just saying that because you don’t know how to be cool.”

“FUCK you, Strider.”

“Hey man, if you really want to.”

Karkat blushed worse, angry - though he was thankful for a reason to blush. “GAH. Stop that, you lewd buldgefucker. I don’t need that bullshit in my life.”

“Oh? Does that mean you forfeit the game?”

Karkat looked at him, scowling. “NEVER. I’m going to make you my bitch, Strider.”

…

Both of them shared a moment of silence before they realized both of them were getting really close to each others faces, and both of them were blushing.

...

“... I-I mean, you’d just be my PLATONIC bitch.”

“Totally.”

“Yep.”

...

“Cool?”

“Cool.”

 

They looked back at the movie.

...

 

“... So, Karkles.”

Karkat sighed. Fuck. He suddenly really wanted this day to end. “What is it, Strider?”

“I was thinkin’. Life on this shitty ass meteor is boring. So much so that I got pissed at life and took it out on you awhile back. Remember, with the cape and shit?”

Karkat nodded, rubbing his face. How could he ever forget making such a fool of himself? At least he had gotten small payback by hearing Dave moan, evidently without his knowledge. “Yep. I remember.”

“Well, how about we make it more interesting?”

Karkat stopped the movie - they weren’t watching it anyways - and looked at him. “... What do you have in mind?”

 

*~*~*~

 

“This is such a fucking dumb idea.”

Dave was grinning like an idiot. “That’s what makes it perfect.”

They were standing in the middle of the living area. They had alchemized a bunch of shit. There, in front of them both, was a microphone.

“So you want us to just sing along to music? For no reason? So everyone can hear our voices screech and crack as we try to hit notes we can’t fucking hit?”

“Yeah, it’s karaoke!” Dave turned to Karkat, still grinning. “Uh, do trolls have that?”

“Ugh. I’m sure we do. I honestly don’t care what it’s called for us.” Karkat crossed his arms sourly. “Dave, you only want to do this because you think you’ll be able to show off with your musical talent.”

“Er, no, you’re actually dead fucking wrong, and I’m mildly offended that you think so low of me, Karkles.” Dave shook his head, that idiot grin refusing to leave his face, even with Karkat’s pissy attitude. “I was hoping it would help everyone relax. I mean, Rose has been on edge, which sets Kanaya on edge. TZ and Vriska are never around, so this might make them actually see other people. Oh, and Mayor totally thinks he’ll win.”

“Dave, the Mayor doesn’t fucking sing.”

“Yeah, cause we’ve never held a karaoke night before!” Dave laughed, walking up the mic and squatting down to work on the wiring. “Come on. It’ll be fun.”

Karkat tried not to look at the crouching figure. “Whatever. I probably won’t even sing.”

“Aw, what?” Dave glanced at him. “Karkles. Bro. You gotta sing.”

“Why the fuck should I?”

“‘Cause I say so, and I’m cooler than you.”

“Pfft, whatever!”

“Seriously!”

Karkat smirked. “Hmm… Wanna bet?”

 

Dave laughed, standing straight again, putting his hands in his pockets. “Seriously, Kar? Last bet we made had you moaning like a girl on her honeymoon.” He held up a hand as Karkat opened his mouth. “You really don’t need to know what it is. It’s not important.” Karkat scowled and closed his mouth. “But you really want to make another bet on top of this one?”

“Well, yeah. Fuck, Dave, that other one… It’s going to take a while, alright? We’ve got until the end of this shitty ass journey to figure it out.” Karkat grinned. “Buuut, if we make a bet about who wins at karaoke… That’ll be over by the time the party is.”

Even though Karkat couldn’t see, Dave’s eyes lit up. “Aw, yes. So you’ll sing?!”

“Only if we make a bet, on MY terms this time.”

Dave smirked. “Lay it on me, Karkat. What’ll be the price of hearing you sing?”

Karkat rubbed his chin, giving it some thought. If Dave thought he wasn’t going to use this to his advantage, he had another thing coming. But what to bet about? 

Well, he could use this to get dirt on Dave. That would help bring them closer together as possible moirails - or drive them apart as kismesis. Or he could make Dave read more embarrassing erotica. THAT could be fun.

But he could probably do all of that without this bet anyways. What he needed was something he couldn’t get Dave to do, no matter how hard he…

 

Karkat looked at Dave seriously.

Oh. 

Hell yes.

 

“Okay. So. If you win the singing contest, then…” He sucked in a breath. He had to make this too perfect to refuse. He shut his eyes and ignored his blush. “Then, for one full day, Strider, I will wear whatever Rose and Kanaya makes me wear. ANYTHING.”

 

There was a moment of silence. Dave felt a blush rise to his cheeks as he imagined the options. Dresses. Everywhere, there were dresses. “Hell yes,” he whispered before laughing. “Damn, that sounds funny! Alright. What if I lose?”

Karkat smirked. “And if you lose… YOU have to take off your shad-”

“No deal.”

 

Karkat stopped, surprised. “W...What?”

 

“I said no deal, Karkat.” All the humor in his face had died. Dave Strider was 100% fucking serious. “I’m not letting you see my eyes.”

“Why the fuck not?”

“You aren’t cool enough.”

“OH FUCK YOU!” Karkat stomped his foot, anger rising in his face. “You’re being a fucking bulgesack right now! It’s a MORE than fair deal! Either I submit to a day of humiliation or you submit to a single GLIMPSE of your eyes!”

“No.”

Karkat shut his eyes. “Fine. You know what?” He flicked Dave off. “Fuck you, fuck karaoke. I’m going back to my room.” He turned his back on Dave and started to walk away.

 

…

 

“Fucking coward…”

“What the fuck was that?”

Karkat stopped, turning around and glaring at Dave. “I called you a fucking coward, you cluckbeast.”

Dave shut his eyes tightly. 

…

Doing this would be risking a lot. He… fuck, he hated showing his eyes. He hated that he was… But Karkles really wanted this. Karkat wanted to do this, but he would only do it if there was some sort of challenge presented, some sort of goal. 

 

And he also really wanted to see Karkat dressed up.

 

But if he lost, he…

 

“I won’t lose.” He opened his eyes again, somewhat relieved to still see Karkat through the dimness of his shades. The troll was grinning. He’d gotten what he wanted. “It’s a deal. Shake on it?” He offered his hand.

“Good.” Karkat shook his hand back. Dave gulped, feeling somehow as though he had just signed a contract. Karkat dropped his hand. “Now, I’m going to go back to my room and figure out what I’m singing. It’ll probably be one of those shitty earth songs too, so I’ll have to learn the lyrics.” He smirked. “I’m gonna kick your ass, Strider.”

“Ha.” Dave smiled, keeping up the facade of being chill. “As if, Karkles. You can only dream of being half as awesome as me.”

“Pfft. Whatever. Later, loser.” Karkat waved and headed back to his room.

 

...

 

Dave watched him go, letting out a sigh as he saw Karkat leave. “...Fuck.” He held his face, sitting down. “Fuck, what did I just…” 

 

He held the silence there for a bit. 

 

But he couldn’t stand it. Fuck, the silence… His childhood crept up on him. Silence meant something around the corner. On his planet, it had never been silent. Click, whirr, gears crashing together. Each sound had kept him on the alert - he had hated it at the time, but it was so much better than this god damn silence. 

Silence meant something was waiting to get him. His bro was waiting to attack. Cal, for fucks sake, CAL was waiting to attack. 

Dave shook his head, feeling his heart beating faster from the thoughts. “Fuck. Pull yourself together.” He stood, looking around. “Okay. Just… talk. Like you always do now.” He took a deep breath. “Okay. Need to do some more wiring. Ha, this fucking… dumb wiring.” He licked his lips and set about doing that, ignoring his racing heart. He couldn’t get the thought of something creeping up behind him out of his mind. He was positive his bro was right behind him, or worse, Jack Noir. He tried hard not to think about it.

Instead, as he found himself doing more and more recently, he thought about Karkat.

Slowly, very slowly, he smiled and felt his heart beat slower. 

 

Slow… Slower…

 

He breathed.

 

Relaxed.

"Ha... man..." He grinned. "Come on. Gotta focus. No thinkin' bout that right now." He set about working on shit, humming a calming song under his breath.

 

Rose watched from the hallway, concern etched into her face. “Dave…” She sighed. There… wasn’t much she knew how to do. But she was noticing things too.

The constant need for noise. The constant sleeping. The constant jumpiness. The constants were all adding up. Dave was tired, more tired than he should be. He was jumpier than anyone else should be. He was more afraid of silence than anyone she’d ever known.

And she was starting to pick up on why.

“He… God, how can Karkat not see…” 

She couldn’t bring herself to say the truth. Hell, she couldn’t even confront Dave about it properly. Not after years of complaining about her own mom. About her own life. How could she ever combat Dave’s problems? His fears?

She swallowed. Why couldn’t Karkat see just how much Dave needed him? How much he needed… someone who actually cared?

She shut her eyes tightly and walked away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hahaha! I stayed up far too late to write this chapter, so I apologize for spelling mistakes. It's just... <3 Such a good chapter.
> 
> What? Where you expecting fluff?~
> 
>  
> 
> ALSO! Official song for these two adorable fucks? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA4OyI5d4eQ


	7. [S] Sing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sing.  
> Strife.  
> Black.
> 
>  
> 
> _Run._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In honor of the surprise update today, I've gone ahead and written an extra long 'flash' update! Notice: there's an S on there. So, here's the two songs you should know are in this chapter. Lyrics are in this chapter. Please enjoy.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0F2hqlV8-N8 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ts108yDesZ4
> 
> Also: Read the tags, people.

Everything was set up. Popcorn was distributed. The microphone was finally up and working. Best of all, Dave noted with pleasure, EVERYONE was here.

Vriska. Terezi. Rose. Kanaya. The Mayor, hell yes. Gamzee in the corner with Vriska’s chains holding him back. And then, the person he actually cared about.

 

Karkat hadn’t stopped watching him all night.

 

Dave grinned from his place at the microphone. “ALRIGHT, seems like everyone’s here! Aw yes, this is gonna be fuckin’ rad.”

Terezi scowled. “Really, Dave? I don’t think this is going to be ‘rad’. Hardly any of us know your earth music.”

“I am afraid she is right, Dave.” Kanaya frowned. “I do not think I would be able to sing along to any of your earthen songs.”

“That’s why we’ve got the lyric prompter!” Dave patted the machine lovingly. “This thing’ll give the lyrics to the song of your choosing. Come on, who’s gonna be up here first?”

No one looked willing to walk up. Finally, Rose sighed overdramatically and stood, walking up to the impromptu stage. “I suppose I will bite the bullet and attempt to sing. I just warn you - it won’t be pretty.”

And that, of course, started off the party.

Dave lost track of how long the night went on. Nearly everyone got a turn on the microphone - Mayor decided to sit out because he had important paperwork for Can Town. Rose and Kanaya sang a cheesy duet that had Dave in ironic tears. Kanaya sang "I Will Survive" and Rose broke down laughing because of the joke. Vriska sang a song about how badass she is. Terezi sang a song about how badass _she_ is. Then they sang a song about how badass they both are. God, they were ridiculous.

Everyone had a few turns singing.

Everyone except for Dave and Karkat.

“Alright, Dave…” Rose smirked. “You can’t keep holding out on us. We all know you and Karkat have made yet _another_ bet as to who wins. Go ahead and sing.”

Dave smirked. “Alright, alright, can’t stand to wait for my gorgeous voice anymore, I gotcha.” Karkat scoffed. Dave just winked at him, despite the fact that Karkat couldn’t see it. Dave wasn’t going to let Karkat win - he was going to shake Karkat up as much as possible. That meant the best song he could think of to throw him off.

He had picked it perfectly, he was positive. There was no way Karkat would win after he sang. He moved in front of the mic and clicked the autostarter for the song he had prepared. The music began and he smirked as he thought about why he was about to do this.

He couldn’t afford to lose.

He opened his mouth and sang.

_So hot_  
_Out the box_  
_Can you pick up the pace?_  
_Turn it up_ ,  
_Heat it up_  
_I need to be entertained_.  
_Push the limit,_  
_Are you with it?_  
_Baby, don't be afraid._  
_I'm a hurt 'ya real good, baby!_

Karkat knew he was blushing.

_Let's go,_  
_It's my show,_  
_Baby, do what I say._  
_Don't trip off the glitz_  
_That I'm gonna display._  
_I told ya,_  
_I'm a hold ya down until you're amazed,_  
_Give it to ya 'til you're screaming my name!_

Vriska and Terezi couldn’t stop laughing.

_No escaping when I start,_  
_Once I'm in I own your heart!_  
_There's no way you'll ring the alarm,_  
_So hold on until it's over!_

“Oh, Dave…” Rose shook her head, blushing and giggling.

_Oh, do you know what you got into?_  
_Can you handle what I'm 'bout to do?_  
' _Cause it's about to get rough for you,_  
_I'm here for your entertainment!_

Karkat narrowed his eyes into a glare.

_Oh, I bet you thought that I was soft and sweet,_  
' _Ya thought an angel swept you off ya feet,_  
_But I'm about to turn up the heat,_  
_I'm here for your entertainment!_

Dave pointed right at Karkat as he continued singing.

_It's alright,_  
_You'll be fine,_  
_Baby, I'm in control._  
_Take the pain,_  
_Take the pleasure,_  
_I'm the master of both!_  
_Close your eyes,_  
_Not your mind,_  
_Let me into your soul._  
_I'm a work it 'til you're totally blown!_

Karkat flicked him off. Dave just laughed.

_No escaping when I start,_  
_Once I'm in I own your heart!_  
_There's no way you'll ring the alarm,_  
_So hold on until it's over!_

“Oh, fuck you.”

_Oh, do you know what you got into?_  
_Can you handle what I'm 'bout to do?_  
' _Cause it's about to get rough for you,_  
_I'm here for your entertainment!_

_Oh, I bet you thought that I was soft and sweet,_  
' _Ya thought an angel swept you off ya feet,_  
_But I'm about to turn up the heat,_  
_I'm here for your entertainment!_

Dave finished his song while all the girls laughed, all but Kanaya, who just frowned disapprovingly. Karkat buried his face in his hands, trying to ignore the burning blush on his face. The worst part about it all, Karkat quickly decided, was that he didn’t totally mind the idea of Dave being in control in that way. Not that he’d ever admit that.

Dave grinned as the music faded and he shoved his hands into his pockets. “Alright, Karkles. Let’s see you top that, huh? I doubt you can.”

Karkat sighed, standing. “Fine. Whatever. Fuck you.” He scowled at Dave. “You’re such an ass.”

“What’s that, Karkat? Are you feeling a lil’ black?” Dave smirked, chuckling. “All I did was sing a song. Did it really get you all that hot and bothered?”

“Just get out of my way and let me sing, Strider.” Dave rose an eyebrow, pleasantly surprised; Karkat wasn’t nearly as flustered as he had hoped. Oh well, he supposed - at least everyone else was still having a good time. That’s all he wanted in the end. Dave shrugged and went to sit down next to Rose while Karkat got ready.

 

“...So.” Rose crossed her arms, whispering as Vriska and Terezi talked loud enough to distract everyone else. “For your entertainment?”

Dave smirked, putting his arms behind his head. “I figured I’d throw him off. He’s probably gonna try the same shit, and with how much he seems to want my dick lately, I thought he’d prefer below the belt.”

Rose chuckled softly. But, her laughter quickly fell flat. She looked at Dave seriously. “... Dave, I think we really need to ta-”

“Shh.” He pointed to Karkat. “He’s about to start. Looks like he wrote out the lyrics on a piece of paper - how cute.”

“But Da-”

“Shh!” He smiled, putting his hand behind his head once more. “I can’t wait to hear this.”

Rose sighed and looked back at Karkat. He had pulled up a stool, and he did indeed have a piece of paper with lyrics on it. Karkat adjusted the microphone and sighed. “Alright, so, I guess this is it. Hey, asshat, could you start the music?”

Dave smiled and hit the next button to switch to Karkat’s song, probably the most elusive mystery of the night. The music started up. “Heh. I was totally right - wasn’t that the planned love song for that shitty Twilight movie?”

“I think you’re right…”

Dave smirked. “That predictable little sh-”

_Watch your past…_

His jaw dropped, the sound caught in his throat.

_Guardian Zodiac…_

“Oh my god,” he whispered.

_See how you’re brave_  
_See how you’re fixing it_  
_Though it’s my fault._  
_And seeing you stand alone,_  
_How can I doubt_  
_That we won’t get through this somehow?_

Rose smiled at Dave’s aghast face. “He can sing,” Dave whispered, “and write his own lyrics.”

“Shh.”

_One world closer…_  
_Closing the distance between me and you,_  
_Are your stars all the same as the ones I’ve watched_  
_For thirteen years?_  
_Can you hold on for just three more?_

Dave felt his heart beating harder in his chest. All of these lyrics - did he mean them? Did he really want him to hold on? For what?

_Catch my breath…_  
_I’m talking in circles now_  
_How’s he so brave?_  
_How can he say_  
_That he’s ready to face_  
_What remains of our dreams?_  
_Ev’ry bridge burned,_  
_Ev’ry hard lesson I have learned…_

Him? Brave? Ha. He wasn’t brave; he was just sort of there.

_One world closer…_  
_Closing the distance between me and you,_  
_Are your stars all the same as the ones I’ve watched_  
_For thirteen years?_  
_Can you hold on for just three more?_

Karkat took a deep breath.

_And all along, I believed_  
_I would guide you._  
_Now my thoughts reveal to me_  
_You have saved me_  
_For these thirteen years…_  
_You’ll save me for some countless more._

Shit, shit don’t cry. Dave struggled not to show any emotions. He always had. No emotion, hide it all. Don’t let anyone crack that image.

But Karkat kept singing, and his voice was so damn good. Dave had never heard it before, but now he was dying to hear more. He was physically aching to hear more, because Karkat was saying so much in his lyrics that Dave hadn’t quite grasped before now.

Karkat blamed himself. He blamed himself for everything. And he needed someone who believed he wasn’t god awful. He needed someone to guide him. He needed a lot of shit.

Shit Dave could give him.

_Closing the distance between me and you…_  
_Are your stars all the same as the ones I’ve watched_  
_For… all those years?..._

Karkat looked directly at Dave.

_Can you hold on for just three more?_

Dave couldn’t breathe.

_And all along, I believed, I would guide you_  
_Now my thoughts reveal to me_  
_You were with me for_  
_All those thirteen years…_  
_Will you stay with me for countless more?..._

The music slowly faded out.

…

 

Karkat leaned forward. “So uh… There you go, fuckass.”

 

…

“Well, fuckasses.”

 

“KARKAT, THAT WAS RAD!”  
“I’ve gotta say, it _was_ pretty good. Way to go, Karkat.”  
“It was a very good song.”  
“The lyrics were so inspirational.”  
Mayor gave a thumbs up.

Karkat didn’t react to any of it. He kept his eyes on Dave.

Dave crossed his arms. “... Pretty damn good, Karkles. Pretty damn good.”

He grinned. “Does that mean I won?”

Dave just grinned back. “Nah.”

 

“WHAT THE FUCK?!”

 

Dave stood, crossing his arms. “Sorry, Karkles, but I got more of a reaction from the audience. That clearly means I won.”

“You were sitting there, mouth open and ready for a load of bulge. You KNOW I did a great job!”

Dave walked up onto the stage. “Sorry, Karkles. What can I say?”

“You’re not a fair judge! You just don’t wanna take off your shades!”

“And what, you’re a fair one? You’d obviously say you won!”

 

“Ahem?” Kanaya cleared her throat. “I personally believe it was a tie…”

Dave and Karkat looked at themselves and turned to everyone else. “Do… you all think that?”

Vriska shrugged. “I don’t really care either way, buuuuuuuut… I guess it was a tie.”

Terezi giggled. “Both of you did a decent job.”

“HONK!”

Mayor gave a thumbs up.

Rose smiled. “...” She giggled softly. “Well. I think you both know what has to happen now.”

“... Noo?”

“Tiebreaker.”

 

*~*~*~

 

“So, what is this game called again?” Karkat asked, a little uneasily. He shifted from foot to foot in uncertainty.

Rose smirked. “Us humans know it as gay chicken.”

“... What’s a chicken?”

Rose giggled and Dave just shook his head. “To you, it would probably be called quadrant cluckbeast.”

Karkat glanced back at Rose, bewildered. “What the fuck i-”

“Rose, do you REALLY think this is the best way to break this tie?” Dave was blushing, ridiculously embarrassed. “I mean, I’ve never done this before, and while I’m not a chicken, I’m pretty sure Karkles is gonna fail and that’s just a pathetic way to lose th-”

“I’m not a cluckbeast!”

Dave rubbed his face, getting at his eyes from under his shades. Fuck. “Karkles. Bro. I’m trying to get us out of this.”

Karkat scowled, balling up his fists. “Whatever this is, I know I’ll do better than you! I am NOT a cluckbeast.” He crossed his arms. “You’re just scared.”

Dave glared at him. “Not. Now.” Karkat rose his eyebrows at the sharp response. That was… different. What was... “Rose, he seriously has no idea what this is.”

“Oh come ooon, Dave!” Terezi giggled, grinning brightly. “We wanna see what this game is.”

“If Rose thinks this is best, then I can’t help but agree,” Kanaya chimed in; Dave was a little concerned by how sly her smile looked. Somehow, he was certain she knew exactly what this game was. He scowled.

“It's really a very simple game,” Rose said. “Each of you get as close to kissing as possible without actually kissing. Whoever flinches away first loses.”

Karkat looked mildly concerned. Kissing him? I mean, sure, he was starting to develop more… flushed colors of love for Dave. That much was all too apparent to him. But kissing would just throw the entire balance off! It would sink them squarely into one of the concupiscent quadrants. He wasn't sure if… if he was ready for-

“Alright. Fine, Lalonde.”

Karkat felt his heart rate jump up in speed as Dave turned toward him. Everyone cheered; they wanted this.

Karkat... didn't.

“Wait, Dave-”

“Don't be a cluckbeast.” No one else knew him well enough, but Karkat knew. Dave was nervous. He had been all night. Dave didn't insult people like that unless he was trying to forget how nervous he was.

Was he... nervous about kissing?

Dave drew closer, his face deathly serious. Karkat gulped.

No, Dave’d been nervous all night. Dave had been picking on him all night; he would almost call it black flirting.

But it wasn't. Dave didn’t flirt like that for an entire night. Didn’t act like this unless something had happened. Unless Dave was…

Scared.

 

Why?

He didn't have any reason to be-

Closer. Fuck. Karkat didn't like the feeling in his chest. It was this weird tightness. “Dave, I dunno about this.”

Dave shook his head. “Come on, Karkat, play along. This’ll settle the bet we made today and then we’ll know who wins.”

 

Closer.

 

Who wins? That’s what he wanted to know. Who wins? Him, or Karkat. That was the big question. Why did it matter? The other one hardly mattered, so why did this one?

The goals. What they both wanted from tonight’s bet. Karkat wanted to see Dave’s eyes.

Dave…

 

Dave didn’t want him to see his eyes.

 

Closer.

 

Karkat didn't take a step back, despite everything in his body screaming at him to back up. He needed to think, to know - Dave was acting way too weird suddenly.

 

No, not suddenly!

 

Today. Since they made that bet.

 

No.

 

Since he had let everyone get close to him on the meteor.

 

_No._

 

His eyes widened.

 

.

 

_Since he let me get close to him._

Closer. Oh god. Karkat was trembling. His bloodpusher threatened to burst out of his chest. It was him and Dave now, just them.

Not yet. No, not yet, he couldn't do this! He couldn't kiss him yet, he still wasn't even sure how he loved him, how could he know?! He was still practically a wriggler! He didn’t know, he didn’t know anything! He didn’t know why Dave thought they might be in love, he wasn’t sure what Dave would ever seen in him, he wasn’t sure why he saw so much in Dave!

Why did he want to see MORE?!

 

Closer. Too close, fuck, too close, his heart was pounding. No, he needed time, more time, he wasn't ready! What could buy him time?!

 

Closer. He could feel Dave in front of him, right in front of him.

 

_I'm not ready!!_

 

Closer. They were eye to shades.

Eye to eye.

_Eyes._

.

He was frozen.

Dave leaned in, shutting his eyes. _Fuck it - time to kiss a troll._

Closer.

 

“STOP!”

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

It all happened too fast.

Karkat’s scream of terror. His hand on Dave’s face. The sudden, shocking feeling of loss as something left his face, snagging on his ears for hardly a second before coming clean. Stumbling back in surprise. Hearing everyone gasp. Opening his eyes.

 

Seeing.

 

Karkat.

 

Karkat had his shades.

 

Karkat was seeing his eyes.

 

.

 

Karkat was seeing him.

 

.

 

The room was silent.

 

“... Da-”

“Karkat.” His voice trembled. Fuck. No no no, fuck no, he couldn't do that. No trembling.

 

It fell silent again.

 

.

 

_Fuck no. Please talk, please fill the silence, please don't let there be something coming!_

 

.

 

“Dave, I-I… Your eye-”

“W-What the fuck did you do?” Shaking. Everything was shaking. He was shaking, he couldn’t stop. Karkat was seeing his eyes. His _fucking eyes_.

His _mark_.

His _deformation_.

The thing that was supposed to make him cool.

The thing that made him _ashamed_.

 

Silence.

 

.

 

_Where is he? I know he’s coming. It’s too quiet. He’s right behind me, he’s waiting for me, and I’m going to lose again and be covered in bruises, in scars, so I can’t go outside or I’ll just lose him and then I’ll have nothing, I can’t let them see, I can’t let them see my eyes, the pain, I can’t-_

 

“Dave, I-”

He was crying. “Fuck,” he whispered, hanging his head. His hands clenched into shaking fists. He was grinding his teeth. His chest was too tight. He was too tense. If he didn't loosen up, he wouldn't be able to fight properly, wouldn't be able to wield his sword - did he even fucking have one?! He knew better, trained better, was _raised_ better-

 

“Dave, I’m so-”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

 

He lunged. He attacked.

 

**Strife.**

 

_It's what you're good at._

 

His fist made perfect contact. His eyes were shut. It was so easy, so perfect, all he really knew. The flesh bent so easily, contorted, shifted from the force of his punch. He felt a rush of adrenaline surge through his veins. The tightness started to go away.

 

“DAVE!”

Rose was screaming at him. Whatever. He didn't give a fuck. He was panting, his heart pounding against his ribs. He could hear the beating in his ears. Screaming in his ears. Panting, screaming, heart beats.

 

Familiar.

 

Good.

 

He opened his eyes. Too bright. Too bright, fuck! He shook as his eyes adjusted. He saw.

Karkat, wide eyed, on the floor, bleeding. He had a fat lip. Red blood stained his face. Tears did too. His mouth was wide open. Shock filled his face.

 

Anger.

 

He did this.

 

Karkat DID this.

 

The tightness, the CARING! “It's all your fucking fault.”

 

“Dave, stop i-”

 

Terezi was shouting.

Good.

Fill the silence.

 

Dave snarled at Karkat. Anger. So fucking angry… When had he last felt this? He didn't remember. Didn't care. No, he had to stop caring.

Caring got him killed.

“Red’s a good color on you, Karkat.” The troll was shaking. “You pull shit like this again, that’s the only color you’re gonna see.” His voice was deeper, darker, angrier than it had ever been. Karkat was crying.

 

The tightness wasn't going away. Why did Karkat have to look so fucking scared? He wasn't allowed to be scared! He had to be the strong one, Karkat needed to be strong!

 

Dave blinked and saw himself, bleeding, shaking, scared, lying at his feet, tears streaming down from his bright red eyes. He saw. Himself. There. A child, just a fucking child, he… What...

 

He looked down.

 

Red blood on his knuckles.

 

“... I…”

Anger. Frustration. Rage. Pain, so much FUCKING pain.

And there was blood.

Scars.

Tears.

 

And an urge to fight.

 

.

 

_I'm turning into him._

 

.

 

“I… I’ll… be in my room.”

“DAVE, DON’T YOU DARE L-”

“Shut the fuck up, Lalonde.” His voice was shaking. Soft. He was whispering. Tears were rolling down his cheeks again. He looked at Karkat.

 

… The shades… He had them.

 

He was still shaking. They both were.

 

“... I… I’ll be in my room.”

_Abscond._

 

“DAVE!”

 

He ran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have one last thing for you. Last chapter, I posted a song for what these two adorable children's song is. But, here's the thing - I posted what their Flushed song was.
> 
> This? This is their Black song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLFqIzWh-zk


	8. Karkat: Survive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time to be a leader again.

Everything had gone to shit.

Karkat sighed, looking in the mirror. The swelling on his lip had gone down dramatically. He only lisped every so often now and it was hardly noticeable anyways. 3 days did wonders.

He looked his reflection in the eyes and winced.

Grey.

Every time he looked in the mirror now, he expected to see red. A deep, vibrant, candy blood red… Just like Dave’s. 

He scowled. Dave obviously hated showing off his eyes. He obviously thought there was something wrong about them. When Karkat had asked Rose about it after she had helped him clean up, she had rather quietly told him that it wasn't a normal color for human eyes. That it was… a mutation.

He scoffed. At least they had that in common.

Karkat winced as he heard it again. Screaming. “Not again…”

Dave was screaming again. Yelling. They had all grown used to the bursts of anger by now. The crashes from his room were growing into an insomniac’s lullaby for them all. If Dave would ever let him into the room, Karkat was sure he would see the room utterly trashed.

If he let anyone into his room, that is.

Dave hadn’t left his room for three days, other than to use the bathroom. Karkat had managed to catch a single glimpse of him. His shades were on again. He seemed just like he always had, but… he held himself differently. Tense. Like a bone that had just been re-set. He didn’t dare move it, or else it would just heal wrong and need to be broken.

Karkat had tried to say hello. Dave had ignored him completely.

And here he was, yelling again at nobody in particular.

Nobody could reach him. He had secluded himself completely. And the only question on Karkat’s mind was… why? Why would he do this to himself? Why would he willingly seclude himself? Just over some dumb snapping point, just over some shitty fucking shades?

Just over some shitty mutation?

Karkat clenched his fist tightly, staring into his own eyes. “He’s got no right being this pissed off. He’s just some shitty kid who punched you, Vantas. He’s obviously black at this point.” He tried to sound convincing. It wasn’t really working. He groaned, shutting his eyes now. “He hates you for what you did to him. He won’t even flick you off anymore. He HATES you, and…” He sighed. “He’s never going to love you, in ANY way…”

He took a deep breath.

That was… a startling revelation.

“Dave doesn’t like me. He’s not black. Not red. Not pink or white or ashy or fucking blue or any other god damn color. He just… doesn’t even want to know me anymore.”

Another deep breath.

“Well, fuck him.” He opened his eyes, looking into that grey reflection. He knew, one day, those eyes would be just like Dave’s. And that would hurt, to be reminded of yet another failed romance. But whatever. “Fuck him in the wastechute with Kanaya’s lipstick.” It didn’t make him feel any better, but he knew the stinging in his chest would go away eventually. It had for every other sordid romance of his. “I can’t give a shit about him right now.”

“I have everyone else to look after now.”

 

*~*~*~

 

Day 4 of Isolation. It was morning.

Karkat yawned, walking out to the living area. It had been a long night. Dave had gone to bed around 4 in the morning, based on their “time” they had set for themselves. It was 11, and it sounded like he still wasn’t up. Hopefully he would just sleep all day. 

Karkat glanced over at the couch. Rose was reading a book. Alone. Kanaya would usually be with her, but… 

Karkat sighed. “Rose. I have a question.” She didn’t notice he had said anything at first. “Rose.” No response. He groaned. “ROSE!”

She jumped, looking up from the book, her fist clenching tightly at the raised voice. He frowned. Not the best reaction, but whatever. “Oh. Sorry, Karkat.” Her voice had gotten tighter since Karaoke night. “What is it that you need?”

“... I wanted to ask why you and Kanaya are…”

Rose winced. Karkat let the question drop, unfinished. She looked back down at her book, sighing. “I…” She shut her eyes. “I asked her if we could… take a small break. Just… I need to be alone for awhile.”

“Why?” She looked up, surprised at the harshness in his voice. “Why is it that everyone I know is isolating themselves?” He scowled, shaking his head. “This isn’t GOOD, Rose!”

“Do you think I was calling what happened GOOD?” Rose looked absolutely incredulous. “I regret what happened as much as you do. As much as DAVE does!”

“Why do you regret it? It’s not like you could do anything to stop it!” Rose flinched back. “Look, this was BOUND to happen since day one. It’s just the story of my shitty life, Lalonde. Karkat Vantas, the troll who was never meant to love.”

“Karkat, that’s not-”

“Shut up for a sec.” Karkat walked over to her, scowling. “Now, I don’t give a fuck why you and Kanaya are on this weird ‘break’ in your love right now. I KNOW you’re worried about Dave. We all are,” he added, whispering. He shook his head. “But you can’t just push her away because you don’t know how to deal with her on top of everything. This isn’t your fault. It’s not your job to fix it. I’m the leader. I’m the one who’s supposed to help YOU. Not the other way around.”

Rose sat in stunned silence.

“Just… think about it, okay? Because I REALLY can’t fucking stand having another one of my friends locking themselves away from everyone else they know just because Karkat Vantas bled a little.” Karkat stood, huffing softly. “Honestly, it’s getting pretty damn annoying.”

He walked over to the pile of food and pulled out a bag of twizzlers, tossing it to her. He then grabbed a bag of popcorn and walked to the movie room.

Rose looked at the twizzlers in her lap. She felt herself begin to tear up and took a breath. No. She didn’t need to cry right now. She could do that later, in her room. Or perhaps in the shower. She sniffed and bit them back. Good.

… Oh Karkat…

Not her fault.

Ha.

She should’ve said something far sooner.

It was silent.

 

*~*~*~

 

Karkat frowned.

“This movie sucks.”

His hand shifted. It fell on the couch beside him. He looked down at the empty space there. 

… Movie day wasn’t very fun anymore.

“Er… Karkat?” He glanced over at the entryway. Terezi was there. He craned his neck - yep. Vriska was waiting outside. He raised an eyebrow and glanced at Terezi. “I thought you might be in here.”

“When aren’t I in here?” He refused to admit just why he still sat here. He didn’t want them to know that he was vainly hoping things might just… go back to the way things were. That Dave might get over himself and come watch movies with him like they used to before Karaoke. 

“I guess you’re right. But…” Terezi rubbed her neck. “Well. I wanted to know if you were… doing okay. No one’s really… talked about what happened.”

Karkat sighed. Oh joy. This conversation. He’d been waiting these past few days about when this would finally happen. “I’m doing perfectly fine,” he said through his scowl. “Dave can throw as many wriggler fits as he wants. I don’t give a fuck anymore. He obviously doesn’t either, so what’s the point of being weird about it?”

Terezi seemed surprised by that response. She raised an eyebrow. “You’re… perfectly alright with this?”

He shrugged. “I mean, it hurts. Duh. Of course it does, it was just the best fucking time on this meteor I’ve ever had.” Woops. He hadn’t meant to admit that. Oh well. “But it’s over now. What’s the point of reminiscing about how fucking stupid past me was for trying to push Dave into a quadrant we weren’t ready for?”

“We’re just used to you overreacting to this sort of thing.”

He barked out a laugh. “Yeah, well, I guess things have changed now.” He’d gotten more mature. More sure of himself. He refused to let himself think that was due to him. It was obviously due to the time he’d spent with Dave.

Too bad those days were over.

“If you’re sure you’re fine, I guess…”

“I’m fine, Terezi. Really.” Karkat glanced at her. “Are you?”

She frowned, flashing him a quizzical look. “Why wouldn’t I be? I mean, it was awkward to see, sure, but your romance really doesn’t affect me. I just wanted to make sure we didn’t have to watch you and Dave skirt around each other forever.”

“Don’t worry about that. As soon as that crotchmouth decides to chill the fuck out, everything will be back to normal.”

“At least, we hope.”

“Yeah. Whatever.”

Terezi left with Vriska. All Karkat could do is look back down at where his hand was resting on the couch. He looked back at the television.

...The movie really sucked.

 

*~*~*~

 

Day 5 of Isolation.

Karkat sighed, sitting on his stuffed animal and pillow pile. It wasn’t as comfy as Dave’s bed, but at least it was a decent substitute. In his hands was the ever familiar 50 Shades of Grey. He read it with mild interest. It was a pretty trashy novel, now that he was starting to understand it - it depicted a VERY unhealthy black romance. But it was better than just sitting in silence.

He was starting to really hate silence.

Before, he and Dave were always together. There was always playful shouting, or laughter. There was usually music. God, he missed Dave’s music. He wanted to hear more. He wanted to hear everything - more laughter, more banter, more everything.

But now it was just silent.

 

He jumped, gasping in surprise as he heard the scream, followed by a crash, the sound of something being thrown. Dave.

His heart started to race. He told himself, calm down. He didn’t need to care about him anymore. He was just some dumb human who he had been crushing on. Dave was just some moron. Someone who wanted nothing to do with him now because he had fucked up too badly. Karkat just needed to let go. He needed to stop caring about Dave.

Dave would be better off without him, anyways.

“WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN!?”

 

His heart started to run cold.

 

… He was… talking to someone.

 

“Oh no.”

 

He stood, the book falling forgotten from his lap. He felt almost as though he was running in slow motion. The grey hallways passed by him, unimportant. He passed the Mayor who waved, but he didn’t even notice.

Who was Dave talking to?

“THEN WHY THE FUCK DIDN’T YOU STOP ME?!”

 

God no. He was going to snap again. He was going to hurt someone.

Karkat wasn’t about to let that happen. Dave could punch _him_ up as much as he needed. Karkat didn’t give a fuck. But if he tried to hurt one of his friends? No. He wasn’t letting his fuck ups hurt his friends. No one was about to get hurt on his watch over some fucking shades.

He felt a warm, familiar fire rise in his gut. 

Anger.

But it was more than that.

 

He felt like a leader again.

 

He reached Dave’s door.

 

It was open.

 

Rose was crying.

 

Fuck.

 

“YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED ME, ROSE.” Dave was screaming. His voice was raw from how much he had done it lately. Tears stained his face, his clothing, blatantly noticeable on his rage-red cheeks. “You KNEW I was fucked up and you didn’t say ANYTHING!”

“I-I didn’t know how to!” She was shaking. Tears rolled down her face too. “I don’t know how to fix this, Dave! I see everything, I can see anything I need, but I don’t know how to fix you!”

“Oh, and EAVESDROPPING was the best way you thought of?!” Karkat saw he was shaking. His fists were clenched. He was tense. “You fucking BITC-”

 

“HEY.”

 

Both the humans jumped as his voice rang out. Karkat scowled at Dave, ignoring Rose for the time being.

“You don’t get to call her that, you asshole.” 

He stepped forward, running his tongue over his split lip. It was close to healing now. He moved in front of Rose. Dave stumbled back from him. 

“Now.”

Both of them were stunned. Silent.

 

He hated silence.

 

“It’s time we had a long talk.” He turned his head to glare at Rose. “Get the fuck out of here, Rose.”

“B-But-”

“Go.”

She looked between him and Dave once or twice. Finally, she hesitantly nodded and walked away. Karkat turned back to Dave.

Shades. He sighed. 

Grey.

“Alright, you bulgesucking wastebucket.” Karkat’s eyes narrowed. “Let’s talk.”

Dave was shaking. He looked ready to strife. Karkat licked his lip again, finding comfort from the strange metalicy taste. He just hoped he survived long enough to say what he wanted to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woops, 4 am update say whaaat? I need to stop doing this. Sorry if the quality is bad this chapter - it was just too much material to have in one chapter, so it'll be split into two.


	9. Dave: Fill The Silence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A conversation is held.

There was only a few moments of silence between them. In that time, Karkat analyzed the room. The nightstand had been broken apart. Books lay out all over the floor, looking as though the pages had been bent; he felt positive they had all been thrown around. The bed was bare, covers bunched into the corner of the room. The closet was open wide and he could see that Dave had been dipping into his stash of food.

 

He sighed, looking at the still quiet Dave. He regarded him seriously. 

 

“Hey, fuckface.”

 

Dave frowned. “Hey.”

 

“It’s been awhile.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Silence.

 

Dave clenched his fists. _Breathe_. In. Out. He forced himself to relax a bit. “You got anything to say, or you just gonna stand there quietly?”

“I’ve got plenty to say. But I was waiting for you to say something. Literally anything about… what happened.” Dave couldn't help but notice that Karkat’s voice was quieter than he remembered it being. Or maybe 5 days of nightmares about puppets, screaming and bright red tears was enough to wipe Karkat’s voice from his memory. “So?”

Dave gulped. “So what?”

“Are you going to say anything about what happened?” He could see that Karkat was getting impatient. 

He licked his lips. He had plenty he wanted to say. He wanted to say so much, but… he didn’t… want to say it at the same time. So much was weighing down his heart, but saying it just seemed like it would make things even harder. It would all just hurt more. All because he knew Karkat would be hurt by it too. And he didn’t want to hurt Karkat more than he already had. His eyes focused on the troll’s lips, at where the skin had been cracked by his hand. He took a deep breath and shook his head.

Nothing to say.

Silence.

 

Karkat’s eyes narrowed. “Alright. Sit your ass down and listen to me.”

Dave only hesitated for a second. He briefly entertained the idea of kicking Karkat out of his room. He didn’t want to deal with this right now. Not yet. He… He didn’t want any of this to happen. But he also realized that trying to kick Karkat out of his room would never work. The troll was as stubborn as he was.

Heh. At least they had that in common.

 

Dave sat, watching Karkat with a thin frown. Karkat crossed his arms. “Alright. First off… FUCK YOU!”

He jumped at the sudden loudness of the troll’s voice. “W-wh-”

“FUCK YOU, YOU CROTCHSNIFFING BULGESUCKING ASSHOLE.” Karkat snarled, his fangs seeming sharper to Dave’s eyes. “I get a glimpse of your eyes and what do you do? YOU GO AND HIDE AWAY FROM EVERYONE FOR 5 FUCKING DAYS. Meanwhile, I have to play damage control each day! I have to help everyone deal with YOUR bullshit, all the while getting no fucking sleep because of your constant wriggler fits.”

Dave opened his mouth. Karkat shook his head. “No. You don’t get to talk yet.” Dave felt his eyebrows raise in surprise. “You heard me, asswipe. You’re going to LISTEN to me.”

His mouth snapped shut.

“Good.” Karkat crossed his arms, looking at Dave directly. Dave squirmed; it felt almost as though he was looking straight through the shades, almost like they weren’t there at all. He found himself unable to look directly at Karkat’s eyes. “Now. I can look past you punching me. You freaked out, I get it. Honestly, you freaking out and ONLY punching me was a fucking relief from the usual “I’m going to kill everyone you love because I got a little angry” routine. I can also look past the 5 nights of yelling and screaming and trashing your room.”

“But fucking with everyone else?” Karkat shut his eyes tightly. He clenched his fists. “You’re not LIKE this, Dave. You never get this fucked up. Not… not like this.” He opened his eyes, gesturing towards the door. “I mean, you made Rose cry. You nearly called her a bitch, and not your dumbass playful name calling. You were angry.”

“But she could’ve-”

“DAVE.” He shut up again, looking down, anger warming his chest. He took a deep breath again. Karkat kept talking. “I’ll talk to Rose. I’ll figure out what her deal was. But you can’t blame her for what happened. Not…” He sighed, his voice getting far softer. “Not when it was all my fucking fault. I won’t let you blame her for what I did.”

 

For…

What _he_ did?

 

Karkat blamed himself…

“Fuck.” Dave held his head in his hands. He should’ve known Karkat would do that. After that goddamn song, he should’ve realized Karkat would blame himself for this too. He probably saw it as another failure on his part. He probably saw this as something he had fucked up. “Kar, tell me you don’t think that.”

“Think what? That your freak out was my fault?” Dave looked up, nodding. Karkat looked away, dropping his arms. “Well… of course I do. I… I was the one that flipped out first. I stole your shades. I manipulated you into a bet that let it happen in the first place. If I hadn’t, then everything… everything would just be normal.”

“Karkat, this wasn’t YOUR fault. It’s mine!” Dave stood. “I’m the one who punched you. I’m the one who flipped shit for no good reason.”

“But you wouldn’t have flipped out if I hadn’t taken your shades!”

“And that’s an excuse?!” Dave’s voice was starting to hurt. He’d been yelling so much. At the air. At what was dead and gone. At himself. Everything that just wouldn’t go away. “I shouldn’t have done it, and just because you think you’re to blame for everything I’ve been through doesn’t excuse the fact that I’m FUCKED UP!”

“We’re all fucked up, Dave! We’ve all been through shit!”

“I DON’T GET TO HURT YOU JUST BECAUSE I WAS ABUS-” His voice caught as his eyes widened in horror.

 

Silence.

 

“... Abused?”

 

Shit.

 

“Forget it.”

“No.”

“Karkat, I said FORGET IT.”

Karkat stepped closer. “Dave. You aren’t getting away from me. There’s nowhere to run on this fucking meteor. It’s time to talk.”

Dave shut his eyes tightly. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. He was better than this. He knew better than to let that slip, so why had his guard dropped so far? Why had he let Karkat get this close. “Karkat, please…” His voice was pleading. He didn’t want to say this. He didn’t want to expose himself like that. 

He gasped as he felt the troll’s hand gently wrap around his own. It was softer than he had imagined. Warm. He looked up at Karkat. The troll looked… caring. He cared. His face was relaxed… sympathetic. 

“Just talk. Like you always do now.”

 

The dam burst.

 

He squeezed Karkat’s hand. He tried to hold them back, god did he try, but he felt tears begin to well up in his eyes. “I-I… G-God, Kar… I’m sorry.” He took a shuddering breath. “I’m sorry. God, I-I never meant to… I can’t believe I…”

“Shoosh.” Karkat leaned forward, unable to stop himself. He leaned forward and wrapped his other arm around Dave, holding him close. He felt somewhat selfish with the action; but when Dave leaned into him, crying, his body trembling in Karkat’s arms, somehow he knew this was the right choice. He rubbed Dave’s back softly. “Shoosh,” he whispered again.

Dave wept, sniffing. He felt so… so weak. So confused. “I-I… I-I could never be weak, Karkat. I could never just… relax. Not with _him_ in the house. My bro… God. A-All he wanted to do was make me stronger.” He bit his lip. He was saying it all, he shouldn’t be saying this. Bro had made him promise a long time ago. Secrets were how they were supposed to live.

“Just let it out,” came the whispered response.

“H-He didn’t make me stronger. Not with all the battles, cutting me up, leaving scars all over my body from our sparring. He didn’t make me feel stronger at all when he beat me the fuck up and left me to bleed. He made me feel so… _so_ goddamn weak. W-Why am I… Goddamn it. Why am I like this?” He shut his eyes tightly. “Why am I so angry? I-I feel like I’m going to break anyone I get close to, Karkat. I-I can’t hold back anything anymore, not like I used to. I used to be so much better at this, I used to be able to hide it, and now all that is breaking away and all that’s left are all those years that I was fucked over.”

Karkat pulled back slightly, still holding Dave’s hand. “You aren’t weak, Dave. Being able to say all this? That’s pretty much the exact fucking opposite of being weak.”

Dave rubbed his eyes under his shades, wiping away tears. He sniffed. God, he was pathetic. Crying. Crying, after all these years. “Then why do I feel s-so fucking miserable? Why do I feel so fucking _broken_?”

“Dave, you aren’t broken.” Karkat sighed. “You’re… God, you’re…” He didn’t know how to put any of it into words. Dave was so strong, in his eyes. He had managed to do everything Karkat had never been able to do. He had god tiered. He had made so many good friends. He had mastered his aspect. He had had fun. He was everything Karkat envied.

And seeing him, in his arms, shattered and in need of help… Karkat had never loved him more.

 

Love.

 

Karkat loved him.

But now wasn’t the time.

“You’re so much stronger than you give yourself credit for,” he said. “You keep up this facade constantly of being alright. That takes strength. You keep smiling despite being so hurt inside. That takes strength. You’re so strong… but you don’t need to be anymore.” Karkat smiled brighter, squeezing Dave’s hand once more. “I’ve got you. So please. Just… talk. Tell me what you need to tell me.”

Dave sniffed. Where to start? “I… don’t remember the atmosphere ever not being nerve wracking… All having to sneak around, y’know? That’s why I’m always on my guard. And now that he’s gone… now that it’s just us on the meteor...” He sighed. “I’m so tired, Karkat. I’m always so tired. And I keep waking up at night, reaching for my sword because I had another fucking nightmare, and it always just turns out to be him haunting me like some fucked up ghost beyond the grave.”

“And… And, god, the puppets. I swear he loved those more than me.” He allowed himself a bitter laugh. “But it just… Karkles, why did it take me so long?”

“What do you mean?”

“W-Why did it take me so fucking long to figure out how… how fucked up I was? To stop seeing it as some kinda ironically unique lifestyle and realize it was just child abuse? It took years to deconstruct it all and put it back together to understand how fuckin’ MAD I should be, and how… uncared for I was my whole life…” He looked at Karkat once more. The troll was still there. Still holding his hand. He… god, he cared so much. “I only started getting it after spending a LOT of time in person with a bunch of people who actually did care about me, and I could start feeling like… actually somewhat human for the first time… Instead of just… me,” he finished lamely.

“You know why we care about you, Dave?”

“... Why?”

“Because you’re you.” Dave couldn’t help but crack a small smile. He sniffed, rubbing his nose on his sleeve. “Ugh, Dave! Don’t do that. That’s disgusting.”

“What? Karkles, it wasn’t like I was taught any manners as a kid.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t learn now. Don’t wipe your snot on your pajamas.”

The banter helped. Karkat was helping. Dave smiled a little wider. “... Thanks, Karkles.”

“Just don’t fucking scare me like that again, okay?”

“No promises.”

“Jackass.”

“Douchebag.”

Karkat smirked. “Crotchsuck.”

Dave chuckled. “Nookwhiff.”

They were still holding hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is their Moirallegience song, particularly this version, for the harmony.
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN3Zrsa2lpc


	10. Seer: ACT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Confrontation, Crying, and other words that begin with C occur in this chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Unrp8oAEfdk&nohtml5=False The final Quadrant Song between these two adorable people - or, would it be three, as this is the Auspistice song? Hmm.

Rose didn’t know what to do anymore.

 

She had finally worked up the courage to speak with Dave. Ha! Fat lot of help that had been! Instead of letting him know she was there for him, that she cared, all that she had done was prove to him that she was too hesitant to help out. She never acted when she needed to, and because of that, Dave was currently flipping shit.

She scowled at her reflection. Her makeup had ran. Why had she even worn any today? Who was she even trying to impress? Sighing, she grabbed a tissue and began to wipe away the mascara. 

She heard voices in the hallway. This time around, she didn't try to eavesdrop. That had just gotten her into too much trouble before; no sense going through it all again because she couldn't learn from her mistakes.

 

But, as everyone should know by this point, it is impossible not to eavesdrop when Karkat Vantas was involved.

 

“Come on, Dave!” Oh. Had he managed to calm him down? That was good, she supposed. She bit back her jealousy. That had been fast.

“Well, too bad. You can just wait for me if you can't handle it, y’know.” He sounded so considerate. Too bad what she had done most likely cost them a decent matespritship. _Stop that, Rose_ , she thought to herself. Life on the meteor has been hard enough already without mucking it up with bad thoughts. She swallowed those down.

“Well too bad, fuckwad. We’re going to do this. We are going to make this happen.” She sighed. Why couldn’t Karkat and Dave just go pal around somewhere else? Right now, all she wanted was to be alone. She’d fucked up and she knew it; now she just needed to be alone for awhile to think it over.

 

If Vriska wasn’t such a bitch about it, Rose would definitely be looking for a drink right about now.

 

“K-Karkles, wai-” Dave’s voice? Close. Too clo-

Rose jumped as there came a loud knock on the door to the bathroom. “I know you’re in there, Rose!”

She took a breath to try and steady her rapidly beating heart. Why was… Of course. Karkat wanted to confront you about Dave. Wonderful. “I-I am a bit busy at the moment,” she managed to say. 

“Too fucking bad - this shit needs to happen, now.”

“Karkles, please, can we just go back to my room?”

“Shut up, you insufferable prick.”

Rose took another deep breath, analyzing her options. Even if she just stayed in here, Karkat would just do something drastic, like break down the door. She would have to at least walk out. With a sigh, she turned the knob and walked out.

Karkat scowled, crossing his arms. “There.” Rose glanced at him and then to Dave. He was ignoring her as much as he could, facing away from her pointedly. She was at least happy to see that some of the tension had disappeared from him. He looked far more relaxed; not perfectly, but still. He was better off now.

“Alright, Rose. Time we had a blood-pusher to blood-pusher talk. Dave here is fucked up, you’re fucked up, we’re all a little fucked up, alright? So let’s get all the shittiest, foulest shits out of the way now so that we don’t have to deal with it smelling up our thinkpans for the entire goddamn day.” 

He really knew how to turn a phrase. Rose glanced at him. “I’m sorry, Karkat, but I do believe it would be best if I didn’t talk.” She licked her lips, surprised at just how well she was keeping her voice steady. The way her heart was pounding against her ribs made that facsimile of calmness a struggle, to say the least. 

“Oh _fuck_ no! We are gonna discuss this shit, it’s been 5 days of _fucking silence_!” He clenched his fists tightly, letting them drop to his sides rigidly. “I am so goddamn sick of silence, you two! I'm sick of silence and screaming and this whatever the fuck is going on! I just…” He took a deep breath. “I just need you two to fucking talk, okay? We can't let this sit anymore.”

Rose kept her eyes on Dave. She could see it all; tension in his body, a vacantness in his expression. He was distancing himself from this conversation. Rose couldn't blame him for that. But she knew that if they started talking about this, she was going to blame him. For a lot. She would blame him and he would blame her. It would just end in another argument, another strife… She didn't want to deal with that right now. She didn't want any of them to deal with this right now. Hadn't she done enough damage already? 

She shook her head softly, looking away from them both, feeling sick to her stomach. “I’m sorry, but-”

“You keep saying that word.” 

 

Both Karkat and Rose looked at Dave, surprised. Rose was surprised by the sudden, barely contained anger that made his voice shake. Karkat was more surprised to see how tightly balled his fists were. He quickly went to take Dave’s hand again, but Dave dodged, pulling his hands closer to his body. Karkat frowned, searching his face. “What do you mean?” Rose was asking.

“What do I mean?” _Shaking, you’re shaking, fuck. Stop, you’re scaring hi- you never cared about that before._ Dave shook his head, digging his nails into his hand. He’d trimmed them so he wouldn't bleed, just like always. “What the fuck do you think I mean?!” _No, not again, bite it back, fight it, you never had this problem before they cared._

“Dave, all she said was-”

“SORRY!” He opened his eyes. Shades, good. _Safe, she can't see, go all out._ “All you ever say is fucking sorry, Rose! It's fuckin’ instinct now, isn't it?!”

Rose was taken aback, eyes wide. “D-Dave, I-”

“No, why the fuck should I let you speak?!” Trembling. “None of the bullshit you say is sincere, Rose! It's all just to fuckin’ pacify us, cause you know you can't fix shit. You’ve never been able to fix shit! Do you realize how many times I’ve died to fix your fucking mistakes?! OUR fucking mistakes?!”

Rose took a deep breath, struggling to remain calm. “Dave, we have all died a number of times, normally. It was fixed through the powers of the game just as much as through your time powers - which, I feel I should remind you, are also just a construct of this game.”

“So, what, just because it was part of the game, it doesn't matter?”

“Dave, you know that’s not what I meant!”

“Then for once, could you just say what you fucking mean, instead of hiding behind your psychoanalytical bullshit?!”

Rose grit her teeth, trying to bite back her rising anger. “If you get to hide behind your music, I can hide behind my logic. I'm just like you in that regar-”

“Don't fucking compare yourself to me, Rose! How the hell do you get off on doing that without knowing anything about my li-”

“Without knowing anything?!” She couldn't bite it back any longer. 5 days had put their strain on her. She snapped. “You think I don't know anything about that miserable life of yours, Dave? Well allow me to educate you on just everything I know!”

 

“You were abused, that much is obvious. You flinch at raised voices and loud sounds, meaning you’re used to silence or, more likely, that loud noises are associated with pain for you. This usually points to abuse, both verbally and physically. Based on your fear - rather, _terror_ of puppets, this extended to mental and emotional abuse as well! Your hoarding habits come from an animalistic nature, making it so you don't have to travel far from your ‘den’ to find food, keeping you safer. You curl up when you sleep, as Karkat so _lovingly_ noted, and that is due to it being a defensive stance, leaving your back exposed as it is the strongest part of your particular body - I feel positive that you’re covered with scars there. You sleep so often now to make up for lost time as you usually ran on very little sleep before. You lash out because that’s all you know how to do. And you refuse, absolutely _fucking_ refuse to admit that you’re in love because the last person you thought you loved was your _fucking abuser_ , and you’re scared that, since Karkat’s too kind to become that, you're going to follow in your brother’s footsteps!”

 

“You’re bitter, angry, and full of confusion because you don't have any sort of basis on how to actually care about people. You’re just a scared, lost little boy with no idea how to fix yourself or what to do now. You want to love someone, you want to show them just how much you care about them, but you CAN’T, because you don't know how!” 

 

Tears rolled down her face. “S-So tell me again how I don't fucking understand, Dave! Because I’m just as lost as you are! I don't know what I’m doing either! I’m just… here. And I can't. fix you.”

 

She rubbed her face, feeling… broken. Shattered. She sniffed, refusing to look at Dave and Karkat. Refusing to break the silence. Besides. She could see it already. Their shocked faces, the comprehension that was flooding Karkat’s face right now as he realized _this_ was why she and Kanaya were on a break. Dave’s anger, bubbling up to the surface again because that’s all he knew, all he had been raised with. She could see it all, just like always - and there was nothing she could do about it.

“R-Rose-”

She shook her head softly. “Karkat, there’s nothing you could sa-”

“Let ‘m talk,” Dave muttered. He was so quiet suddenly. He had stopped shaking. His head was down, his body language… unreadable. “Just let ‘m talk.”

 

Rose sighed and nodded. “Alright.” Not like anything he could say would help.

 

Karkat glanced between the two of them, sighing softly. They were both so quiet suddenly. Was this, like, a trait of their biology or something? A complete inability to just talk like normal human beings?

Well, he guessed they weren’t really normal human beings, were they? They were ecto-biological fuck ups that Egbert had created without any knowledge of what he was doing. They were just kids who had gotten shoved into a world they had never experienced with no plans to have to deal with death and life and time and space and wind and God like powers. They were all just here.

 

But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t help.

“Okay. Well, first off… You’re both right.” Both of them looked at the troll. “Dave, you’re right. She is saying sorry because it’s instinct at this point. Pity is almost always on instinct.” Rose opened her mouth to object and he held up his hand. “Shoosh. I’m not done yet.” She backed off. “And he’s also right that you can’t know, REALLY know, what he’s been through, Rose. You can run your mouth and list off everything he’s been through, but you can’t… can’t feel that. Not in the same way, at least.”

He turned to Dave. “But she’s right too. She knows all of that already, and if you would just pull your head out of your ass, you might be able to see it. I mean, she’s a fucking Seer player, for fuck’s sake. Seeing shit is kind of her job. But fixing it?” Karkat sighed. “Fixing shit is up to me and you, Dave. It’s up to everyone else. We’ve got to be a team, okay? We need to work together.”

“Now, I don’t know about you two, but I would _really_ like all this bullshittery to stop. All this fucking off and locking yourselves up and, GOD, the fucking silence is grating on my nerves. So why don’t we just… stop? We all know we’re fucked up now. Dave’s got a fucked up past. Rose sees a fucked up part, present, future, and everything in between and has an inability to work it all out herself. I’ve got an inferiority complex the size of past-me’s ego.” He cleared his throat after that. “But we can’t let that shit stand in the way of us, you know, surviving for the next however long this sweep will be.”

“So… what do you guys say? I mean, I can’t just force us to forget everything that happened - I don’t want us to. I want us to work this out. But screaming? Isolation? That’s not going to fucking help.” He crossed his arms, feeling a stinging blush rise to his cheeks. He was rambling. “I guess it’s your guys’s choice. I’m just tired of this shit… Plus,” he mumbled, “movies are really fucking boring now.”

 

Dave glanced up at Rose. Rose watched him back. They shared a brief moment of silence.

 

Dave took a deep breath. “... I… Fuck it.” 

 

Rose and Karkat watched in amazement as he took off his shades. He looked down at them in his hands, as though debating what to do. “Heh.” He gulped, licking his lips, and looking back at them. His bright red eyes were still a bit puffy from crying so much. “I, uh… Yeah. Fuck it. Let’s… go back to normal, okay?”

 

“... Yeah.” Rose stepped forward - almost running - and grabbed Dave, hugging him tightly. She was still crying, but mostly from relief now. 

Dave patted her on the back, chuckling. “Can’t get your hands off me, eh Lalonde?” She barked out a laugh through her tears. “Sorry I uh… kinda hated you for awhile.”

“I’m sorry I hated you for awhile too.” She sniffed. “A-At least we have that in common, hmm?” They both laughed.

 

Karkat watched them, not saying a word. His eyes narrowed slightly as they had said that. Hated…

 

His eyes widened a bit.

 _Oh_.

_I was an auspistice just now._

 

He licked his lips. 

 

…

 

He had… He had loved Dave. He knew he had loved Dave since Karaoke night. He had hated Dave since those 5 days. He had wanted to protect Dave since his breakdown yesterday. And… just now he had, in the insufferable prick’s own words ‘made sure his partner didn’t go kill a bitch’.

Hearts. Spades. Diamonds. Clovers.

 

Love.

“...Shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The other C word was Clovers :3c


	11. Karkat: Have A Very One-Sided Conversation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat doesn't know what the fuck is happening, but slowly and surely, he's starting to realize that he totally doesn't care. Nope. Not one bit. He doesn't give a single shit about a certain white haired, white faced, red eyed loser. 
> 
> That's totally why he blows up randomly while trying to hold together _literally an entire fucking city_.
> 
> Totally fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure you read the notes at the bottom for a big surprise! ;)

Life was suddenly fun again. It was like a switch had been flipped. Vriska and Terezi had been running rampant through the meteor in the search of forgotten treasure. Rose and Kanaya had started cuddling again, talking about their problems (which was more Rose talking and Kanaya giving her comfort smooches) and reconnecting after the short interlude. Mayor and Gamzee had struck up an unlikely companionship, holding entire conversations that consisted of honks and startled arm flailing. And Dave…

 

Oh Dave.

 

Karkat stroked the human boy’s hair unconsciously, hardly paying attention to whatever cheesy movie he had picked at random. He honestly hadn’t put any thought into it. As of yet, he hadn’t even comprehended which shitty romcom he had picked. No, his mind had wandered past the point of no return and full on to Nowhereville, over the cliffs of inconvenience into daydream pond.

Simply put, he couldn’t think of anything except Dave Motherfucking Strider.

His hair, his face, his emotions… His eyes. God, fuck, those eyes.

See, everything had gone back to absolute normal - even better than normal! Everyone was happier than before. That was awesome. He and Dave were finally snuggled up on their movie watching couch, the events of Karaoke night had faded from everyone’s minds (or at least was no longer the key event in their minds), and it had been a full week since Karkat had auspisticed between Rose and Dave. Everything was 100 percent, absolutely, totally, no way in any possible fucking goddamn way, out of the norm.

Except.

 

Dave had stopped wearing his shades.

 

“Karkles, what the fuck kind of shit is this?” Karkat tensed slightly as Dave laughed, glancing down. Dave was staring ahead at the movie, grinning, his bright red eyes alight with wonder. Today was apparently one of the few days when Dave actually paid attention to the movie they were watching. Of course he was. Of course he would pay attention to the movie the one day Karkat couldn't properly rub it in his face. Douchebag.

Stupid, really attractive, too cute for his own good douchebag.

“It's just a super shitty rom com,” he grumbled, still petting Dave’s hair. “I don't even remember getting this goddamn movie. It's fucking stupid!”

“It's fucking hilarious is what you mean. This chick is the most ridiculous motherfucker who ever fucked a mother.” Karkat rolled his eyes. “I'm being serious! She’s absolutely ridiculous! It's great!”

Karkat shook his head. “You actually _like_ this drivel?”

“Uh, yeah! I mean, I like it ironically, but that means I still like it, in a way.” Dave looked up at him and Karkat felt his heart skip a beat. His eyes were practically fucking _sparkling_ with happiness. “What, you don't like it?”

Karkat took a minute to untwist his tongue, struggling to regain the ability to speak. “Of course I don’t like it,” he said after a moment. “The girl is a goddamn moron. Seriously, who spends money like that? And why wouldn’t she just buy back the fucking bridesmaids dress? It's all just a pile of goddamn shit, stacked up and stagnating into a melted swill of wasted romcom potential.”

Dave grinned up at him - God, his blood pusher ached with this weird need - and chuckled. “Why’d you pick it then, you nookwhiff?” His heart leapt up into his throat and the only response the flustered troll could make was a strangled choking sound. Dave laughed and turned back to the tv. “Ah, you’re cute when you’re flustered,” he muttered contently.

Karkat forced himself to look away from Dave. _No_ , he told himself. _Do not dwell on what he just said. Don't think about it. Don't. Fuck off with all th-_

His cheeks were burning as he failed.

 

*~*~*~

 

By the time the movie ended, Karkat was sure the novelty would’ve worn off. Turns out, it never did. “That was the best goddamn romance I've ever seen.” 

“Ugh. Dave. You have _shit_ taste in movies.”

“What, you don't?” Dave shifted onto his back, his head resting in Karkat’s lap. “Need I remind you who owns this movie?”

“Point taken. Well, why don't we watch a movie you like instead?”

“Nah, bro. I’d hate to deprive you of the chance to seduce me with all your shitty movie charms.” He was blushing again. Dave flashed him the signature Strider Shit-Eating Grin™. “Seriously, Karkles, this is the path to my heart. You keep this up and I’ll be fucking matrimonial in no time. We’ll be changin’ up the game with some fucked up knight-knight action, singin’ some midnight lullabies of passion for everyone’s ears to absorb. We’re gonna fuck shit up and fuck each other up and fuck everyone else up with how hardcore in love we ar-”

Karkat put his hand over Dave’s mouth. Dave’s eyes widened; oh fuck. That shock in his eyes, that soft surprise mixed with acceptance, the feeling of a smile under his hand… “You’re rambling. Shut the fuck up.” He took his hand back.

Dave was smirking. “No need to be rude, Kitkat.” 

 

Karkat opened his mouth as his think pan tried to form some sort of rebuttal to that fucking nickname when-

 

 **CRASH**  
“HONK!”

 

Dave jumped up in an instant, eyes wide. Karkat sat up taller, scowling.

“... Goddamnit, Gamzee.”

 

It didn't take long to find him. Vriska had recently added a bell to his person so everyone could figure out where he was at any given time. That had worked well so far, allowing them to discover just where in the fucking vents the juggalo misfit liked to crawl to. This time, it led them to one of the many side hallways. 

Dave gasped in physical pain as he saw the damage. “Oh my god.” His voice was broken hearted, so filled with sorrow that Karkat was positive the boy would never be the same after this ‘tragic loss’. He glanced over - yep, Dave was almost in tears. “Karkat. Look at this. It's the saddest fucking thing I have ever fucking seen.”

Karkat just shook his head, disgusted. “It was just some shitty fake play-town.” 

“Don't insult Can Town, Karkles.” Dave walked over to the Mayor, who was frantically picking up cans that had been knocked over. He patted the distraught Dersite on the back. Karkat just rolled his eyes, walking over to Gamzee. The chilled out motherfucker was sitting down, staring ahead blankly at the destruction. Karkat felt a pang of regret; a failed moirallegiance. Well, in a way. In some timelines, he had been the only one to calm down the crazed juggalo; there were times where he wondered if he could have done more.

The answer was yes, obviously, and that Gamzee’s half-dazed, half-crazed state was obviously one of his many responsibilities now. Had Karkat just seen the signs, he was positive that Equius and Nepeta’s blood wouldn't be on his hands.

“Ugh, come on you bulgefucker,” he muttered, shaking those thoughts away. He didn’t need that shit on top of everything else. He hooked his arm under Gamzee’s shoulder, hoisting him up and moving him away from the remains of Can Town. 

Once that was done, he walked back over to find Dave comforting the Mayor with a big hug. Karkat rolled his eyes. Seriously? It was just a fucking ring of cans. Who gave a shit?

Well, evidently, Dave did.

“We gotta help rebuild.”

Karkat opened his mouth to say hell no, why the fuck would he ever do that, nobody would make him waste so much goddamn time on that shitty town. But one of the advantages of Dave no longer wearing his shades was that Karkat could see the level of seriousness in his eyes. Dave Strider was absolutely, 100% serious. Karkat sighed, looking into those determined red eyes. “... What do you need me to do?” he asked, defeated.

The smile on Dave’s face made it sorta worth it, though. “You help Mayor with these cans. I’m gonna go get supplies, okay?”

“Supplies?”

“Y’know, like, glue and shit. Stuff to hold the town together, make it sturdier. Who knows, I might write up a fuckin’ constitution. The people of Can Town need to stand for something, after all. Yeah, I’m gonna make all the Can people have somethin’ to straight up live for. I’ll be right back!”

Dave ran off without another word. Karkat opened his mouth to call out to him, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Part of him didn’t want Dave running off alone; part of him just didn’t want to be without Dave.

“Ugh. Okay, rebuilding Can Town to get my mind out of the fucking flushed gutter.” He rubbed his face bitterly. He was positive he was blushing, which was just straight up bullshit. He knelt down and started gathering some of the scattered cans. “Stupid fucking Strider,” he muttered under his breath. “Stupid Strider and his stupid eyes and this dumbassery he puts me through.” 

He glanced up to see the Mayor watching him curiously. His eyes narrowed. “What the shit do you want?”

The Mayor blinked.

“Look, Mayor, I’m just helping. Look.” He held up a can. “Heeeelping. And complaining about Strider.”

Mayor reached for the can and nodded, sitting and beginning to set up the town. Karkat sighed. He supposed he was now on gathering duty. He walked around, picking up stray cans when he saw them. Occasionally he glanced at Gamzee to make sure the juggalo asshole stayed complacent. Thankfully, for maybe once in his life, something was going right and Gamzee remained a chilled out fucker.

It wasn't long before Karkat joined Mayor on the floor, legs crossed as he worked to make a new city. They shared a few moments of silence. All that time, Karkat tried to sort out what the fuck was going on with him and Dave. That fucking adorable bulgesack had just fucked off to who knows where, and now he had no idea what he was doing. 

Well, when did he ever?

But still, now he had the problem of not knowing how the FUCK to deal with his goddamn problems. Karkat had no idea what to feel anymore. He had just loved Dave in literally every single possible way he could. Where the fucking hell did that leave them? 

“UGH!” He finally groaned, slamming down the can in his hand. The Mayor jumped, startled. “Why the fuck can't I just work this out?! It shouldn't be this hard!”

The Mayor looked around, eyes wide with shock and fear.

“I mean, it's been…” Karkat’s eyes narrowed as he did the math. Human time was weird… “It’s been… about a month since we made this stupid fucking bet. A _month_.” Karkat looked at the Mayor. “That's way too fucking soon, right?”

The Mayor blinked.

“Of course it’s too soon! This sort of fairytale wriggler story bullfuckery only happens to princesses and the like. A month is way too fast to be feeling like… like this!” Karkat rubbed his face. “I’m not even sure what _this_ is! I mean, I’ve now loved him in every single fucking way possible, so what… what does that mean for us?”

Karkat set down any and all cans in his possession, gesturing with his hands for emphasis. “See, Dave thinks that his weird human love is all of our quadrants. But there is no way in hell that I’m in his weird human quadrant. I’ve spent my entire goddamn life researching this shit. It is my _passion_. I can’t let his fucking human whatever the fuck it is get in the way of that!”

Mayor wasn’t sure what to do, so he just nodded. 

“And I’m starting to get the idea that I can’t figure this out by myself. I’ve been trying for a full week, and at this point, it’s starting to fuck up my already fucked up sleep schedule. I’m getting less and less fucking sleep through the night, which is making me sleep more throughout the day, which is making me miss valuable time with Strider.” Karkat stopped, glaring at Mayor. “Don’t tell him I said that last part.”

Mayor nodded, eyes crinkling up in his attempt at a smile. 

“Oh, stop fucking laughing.”

His eyes went back to normal. Almost.

“Good.” Karkat rubbed his hands together, sighing. “I just… I don’t know how to confront him about it. I want to tell him how I feel, but…” He scowled. “I don’t want him to win the bet. Not cause I’m just being selfish or something, but because I don't want to rush this. I mean, how many failed quadrants might I have now? I honestly don't even know.”

He glanced over at Gamzee. The potential had been there, that was obvious. He had felt a connection with Kanaya too, but that would never work out well. He had failed with Terezi big time, right? And how many other, smaller, alternate crushes had failed? In how many doomed timelines had he and Dave gotten together already?

Karkat sighed softly. “I just,” he began, his voice an uncharacteristic whisper. “I just don't want to fuck this up too. I just don't want this to be a mistake.”

Mayor reached forward and patted him on the shoulder. 

“Thanks.” Karkat patted his hand softly. “I don’t want to rush into this.” _For both our sakes_ , he added mentally. Because his feelings weren’t the only ones on the line anymore. Dave was seriously mentally unstable. He needed a lot of help, and Karkat wasn’t going to be the one to break Dave’s heart. Not when the human boy needed so much help already.

No. He wasn’t going to hurt Dave. He was determined to heal him instead.

Karkat allowed himself a small, rare smile. “Come on. Let’s rebuild this shit.” Together, he and the Mayor started to rebuild. 

 

*~*~*~

 

Can Town was back in all its glory. Or, well, as much glory as a town made of old soda cans can have. Karkat put his hands on his hips, surveying the newly repaired town. It honestly looked a thousand times better than the shitstack of a city the Mayor had made in his free time. Karkat allowed himself to be a little bit proud of himself.

Before promptly realizing that Dave had never come back.

“Grr… That fucking bulgefuck got off without doing any work. I swear I’m going to give him a piece of my fucking mind.” Mayor glanced at him. Karkat patted his back reassuringly. “Don’t worry, I won’t kill him. You and him can frolick all you want.” The Mayor seemed reassured by that fact.

Karkat glanced over to where Gamzee was. Er, had been. He’d wandered off again. Oh well, the fucker would probably just wander to some far-off vent to chill out. He sighed, shaking his head and walking back towards the movie room. He wasn’t sure why he headed there first - instinct, he guessed. 

As he walked, he thought about the conversation he’d had with Mayor. Er, more like Karkat just rambling and getting his thoughts out of his head and Mayor nodding and dozing off once or twice. Oh well, at least now said thoughts were out of his head and he didn’t need to worry about them anymore.

But, as everyone knows, Karkat Vantas couldn’t help but worry.

He worried about what Dave would say if he actually confessed he liked him. Like, in the human way. What sort of “liking” would that be? Like, _like_ liking? Ugh, that just sounded dumb. He human loved Dave - no way around it. He allowed himself another sigh. Not like he was about to confess his feelings to Dave anyways. 1 month was way too soon for that kind of bullshit, especially after everything that happened Karaoke night. No, he would need to tread carefully. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Dave. 

So yeah. He would just… keep going like this. And maybe Dave would… He didn’t know. Reciprocate? Engage the romance? Whatever. He just needed to stop obsessing over the pasty white kid and let the romance unfold naturally. He could do that, right? Fuck, that should be simple. Ease, really. A wriggler could do it. He would be fine.

Right.

 

Fine.

 

Karkat walked into the movie room, stopping almost immediately. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling, just softly, as he saw the white-blonde haired boy resting on the couch, fast asleep and curled up, arms crossed over his chest and hands clinging to his shoulders as he breathed slowly and easily. If the fucker had been exhausted, he should’ve just said. 

Karkat walked over and sat down next to him. He was going to tear this fucker a new one.

Yep. Just as soon as that fucker got some sleep.

Karkat rested his hand in the boy’s hair, gently stroking, the motion second nature at this point.

 

Yeah. He’d be totally fine.

 

Totally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *gasp* You listened to my instructions! Well then, I do have to reward you. Without further ado...
> 
>  
> 
> http://davetellhimaboutthequadrants.tumblr.com/
> 
>  
> 
> Tada~


	12. Dave: Have Zero Chill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What a lovely day. Familiar faces, familiar places.
> 
> So why does Karkat seem so off?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's your friendly reminder of the new official Tumblr, Author: Tell Them About The Behind The Scenes! 
> 
> http://davetellhimaboutthequadrants.tumblr.com/
> 
> And I should have one last surprise posted for you all tonight. ;) Stick around~

_Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeep. Beeeeeep. Beeee_ -

“Uuuugh,” Dave mumbled into his pillow, hand reaching blindly for the fucking alarm bullshit that was going off _right in his goddamned ear_ , it was too fuckin’ early for this, jegus. His hand found a button on the alarm and he tapped it, hoping for relief, only to realize he hit the volume button and the beeping was actually just getting _louder_. 

He sat up, eyes shut most of the way, squinting at the alarm and hitting the right button this time around. The beeping, thankfully, ceased. He let himself adjust for a moment to the idea of being awake. Then, slowly, he began to open his eyes, little by little.

BRIGHT.

“Fuck, fuck fuck, oooow…” He rubbed his eyes, shutting them again with a sigh. He shook his head. “Yeah, no, not doing this shit today.” He groped around his table for a minute until the familiar texture of his sunglasses was in his hand. A wave of relief swept through him, old and familiar. He put them on and opened his eyes.

Thank fuck.

He slouched over a bit, forcing himself to relax. Yeah, it was early, and he hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep. Whatever. He’d tough through it - no way was he sleeping through the entire day anymore. Not when both Rose and Karkles had already noticed how much he was sleeping. He wasn’t going to worry them anymore. 

He rubbed under his glasses, adjusting to the still almost too bright room. “Fuckin’ photophobia…” He sighed. He glanced at his bare arm, grabbing a marker from his table and adding a slash there.

Up to… He did some quick counting. 14 slashes. 14 times now, in 2 weeks. Not… too bad. Only 14 times he hadn’t been able to handle the lights - or people - and had to put on his shades again. He was getting better.

Or, uh, he was… doing something different? He didn’t know, how the fuck do you get better at something you’d never tried?

He ran a hand through his hair, standing and getting ready for his day. He kept on his shades for now, utterly relaxed (almost) and a bit relieved to be wearing them. Sure, he felt a bit guilty - okay, _hella_ guilty, but at least for the time being he felt somewhat more relaxed than he usually did whenever he had to fumble around half blinded by the bright-ass light in his room that reminded him of those weird lights at school that he had to suffer through before Bro started homeschooling him.

Ugh. Okay, not the time to think about home.

He tussled up his hair once before brushing it, cursing the bits that stuck out a bit and refused to stay somewhat controlled. Whatever, Karkles would think it was cute or something. He donned his God pajamas, for one minute recognizing the irony of sleeping in the buff with his pajamas hanging not 5 feet away.

He stretched and checked himself out in the mirror. There he was. Cool dude. He turned around a bit, looking at himself. Did he seem less skinny? Thinking about it, he had started eating more. He shifted his shades a bit, just enough to see that the dark circles under his eyes were starting to fade\\. Not a lot - especially after all the nightmares last night - but still, some. He counted it out on his hand. 

His eyes widened.

“Holy fucking shit.”

He got a full 7 hours last night. He fought back a grin. Here he was, complaining internally about a lack of sleep. That was way more than he used to get back at home. Sure, 2 to 5 hours of sleep, sporadically without there being a set time had been hard, but he’d managed it. But now, holy hell, the sleep he could get. He really enjoyed how much he could sleep.

Until he’d went and worried Karkles, of course. And Rose, he guessed. Besides, he wasn’t going to sleep through all of their time together. He’d take a nap if he needed it, sure, but he could handle 7 hours, easy. Again, better than 2.

Relaxed, at ease, he walked out of his room, hands in his pockets. He had a troll to harass. 

 

*~*~*~

 

Dave glanced to the right, smiling when he saw the troll sitting next to him. Karkat was oblivious (as usual) to the attention. Dave looked at him, trying to ignore the lights in his eyes. He might wear his shades in private, but not around Karkat. He didn’t deserve that.

He took him in. Stubby horns that reminded him so much of candy corn like Bro brought home for Halloween. Ruffled up hair that somehow stuck up _everywhere_ but his face, hanging just above his eyes. His eyes seemed to glow slightly, somehow, just a light weird yellow-orange. His ears stuck out of his hair (they flushed red at the tips when he blushed and it was the cutest fucking shit) and were almost… pointy. God, it was cute. Then there was his chubby little cheeks and that little nose of his. It was so perky! Part of him wanted to bite it just for fu-

Okay, nooo, no thinking like that. Thinking like that was going to make him pop a boner again, and he was not prepared for the mental imagery that went along with that. Besides, it was harder to hide it from Karkles like this, even if he was totally oblivious.

Dave sighed softly, leaning against Karkat. The troll jumped a bit at the contact. “What’s up, Kitkat?” Fuck, he loved that nickname. “You’ve been pretty quiet. This movie’s almost boring now without the constant commentary.”

“Almost?” Oh, how he’d come to miss that sarcastic whine those 5 days. 

“Yeah, you’re right, this movie is garbage unworthy of even the shittiest trashcan.” He yawned, letting his head rest on Karkat’s shoulder. “But you didn’t answer the question. What’s wrong?”

He shrugged softly, moving Dave’s head with the action. “I dunno, I guess I’m just not feeling movies today. They’re all getting a bit old.”

There was a lull between them before Dave sat up again, looking at Karkat critically. “Um. Who are you and what the fuck did you do with Vantas?”

Karkat shifted uneasily. Oh, that little frown wasn’t good. “Well… I mean, it’s uh… weird. Yeah, weird to do this.” Weird? What was- “I mean, I’ve seen these a thousand times. It’s just- I guess I’m not used to watching them with someone else?”

Aw fuck. Did he really have to be that cute? “What’s so wrong about watching it with someone else?”

“Er… ugh, nothing, forget it. I can’t explain the feeling.” Man, what was that thing tugging at his voice right now? Was it… Was he…

“Karkat, are you sick?”

“What? No.”

“Oh my god you totally are.” Dave smiled softly. His bro had all the signs of being sick. The dark circles under his eyes seemed darker, and his nose was all stuffed up. Plus, his throat was raw - that meant he had the sniffles, big time. “Yep, okay, you need to go get some fuckin’ res-”

“NO!” Dave raised a brow. Karkat scratched his head, clearing his throat. “Er, I mean, I… Ugh, fuck, I just don’t want to leave, alright?” He was blushing a tiny bit.

Dave smirked. Oh HELL yeah. “I get it, Kitkat. Don’t wanna leave your poor Mr. Strider all on his lonesome.”

“Stop calling me Kitka-”

“Shoosh.” Dave patted Karkat’s cheek absentmindedly. He looked mildly offended by the action, but also somewhat soothed. “You should still go get some rest. I might be able to find some soup or shit in the kitchen to make you.” He grinned. “Yep. We got a motherfuckin’ sick day on our hands.”

 

*~*~*~

 

Dave walked to Karkat’s room, an easy smile on his face. Fuck, today was just going so well. He wasn’t at all tired, he was taking care of Karkat instead of the other way around for once, and he had in his hands some top of the notch cluckbeast soup that Karkles was gonna swoon over. This shit was off the hook - it even smelled pretty damn good to him, and he wasn’t even sick. 

He knocked on the door. “Hey, Karkles, unlock the door for me.” He heard shuffling on the other side, beeping, and suddenly the door opened. Karkat stood there, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders (per Dave’s request). He looked grumpy.

Well, when didn’t he?

Dave held up the soup with a smirk. “Got what the doctor ordered.”

Karkat sighed, rubbing his face. He looked seriously tired - did trolls not get sick often or something? He didn’t appear to be handling this well. “Just uh… put it on the table for now. I’m tired as shit. I’ll probably go back to sleep or something.”

Dave frowned, walking over to the table and setting down the mug of soup (where were all the bowls on this meteor?) absentmindedly. “Karkles, are you alright, seriously? You look like the fuckin’ walking dead or some shit. You’re gonna up and bite my neck now, aren’tcha? Infect me with your sickness or some shit.”

Karkat shook his head, groaning. “Just… no. Shut the hell up. Can’t handle your weird rambling right now.” He was really at the end of his rope then. He fell into his pillow pile, glancing back up at Dave. “Why don’t you just go write some new music or something?”

“Nuh uh, bro, I’m not letting you out of my sight. You should definitely be eating this soup before your nap. Which, by the way, are you using your recipricoon for that? Cause like, we already know from Gamzee that trolls without slime make aliens a dull race and all that.”

Karkat shook his head, obviously not getting the classic reference. “Don’t feel like it.”

“Why, cause you’d have to strip?”

“Yes,” he said plainly. “And I don’t want to fucking shower, I’m in a bad mood.”

Dave rolled his eyes. He was clearly not getting anywhere with Karkat right now. He stood. “Alright, alright, if you really want me to leave you to sleep, I will. Just eat that soup before it gets cold, it’s supposed to be better if you eat it hot.” Heh, man, all those movies really paid off. He was super good at helping others.

Tooootally.

Karkat yawned pointedly. “Alright. Your ‘Kitkat’ is tired now, so fuck off.”

“Gosh, so rude. What if I just stayed right here?” He grinned like the insufferable prick he was destined to be. He was using the time to glance around. Did Karkles have everything he needed? Loads of pillows, warm blankets, the works. Good.

“Strider, fuck off doesn’t mean ‘go away’. Fuck off means _fuck. off._ Fuck off!” He pointed to the doorway. “Off you will fuck!”

Dave snorted, grinning. “Okay, whatever, you little fucker.” He jumped slightly as he remembered. “Oh shit, wait, did I get you a spoon?” He glanced at the bowl. Oh shit, he hadn’t, woops. Fuckin’ oversight. “You’ll just have to drink it, I gue…” 

Had that paper been on the desk the entire time? He’d sat the mug on the edge of it. He pulled it out and glanced at it. “Huh? Is this a song? Karkles, have you been writ-”

“GIVE THAT BACK!” Woah, okay, pushy much? Dave grinned, glancing at him. Aww, he looked angr- woah, kay, really angry, fuck! Dave dodged as the sick troll moved entirely too fast for a sick troll, reaching to grab the paper. “Dave, give me that back or SO HELP M-”

“Shut the fuck up man, I’m readin’.” He held out his arm, easily keeping the short troll at bay. Karkat watched helplessly as Dave read.

And read.

And the grin on his face slowly,

Slooowly,

D  
r  
o  
p  
p  
e  
d.

 

Dave didn’t process the song as a whole, all at once. He couldn’t, really. Lines and pieces popped out at him, though. Lines and pieces that made his stomach feel cold and his chest feel tight all over again, and fuck did the lights seem just a bit brighter.

_All around me are familiar faces_.

He picked an earth song again.

_Aimless floating on through empty spaces, going nowhere…_

An earth song with edits. 

_All my tears are filling up the ocean, in slow motion…_  
_In slow motion…_  
_Hide my head, I wanna disappear… Show them no fear…_  
_Show them no fear_.

 

What… Karkat was scared? Crying? Dave gripped the paper a bit tighter.

 

_And I find it kind of funny. I find it kind of sad._

 

His heart leapt into his throat as he read on, his eyes widening.

 

_The dreams in which I’m_ dying _are the best I’ve ever had._

 

“What…”

_I find it hard to tell you. I find it hard to take._  
_Surrounded by these bubbles, it’s a very very…_  
_Bad dream… Bad dream…_

 

Karkat wasn’t sick.

And it just kept getting fucking **worse**.

 

_I’m still searching for a happy ending _.  
_Quiet Karkat, quiet Karkat_. __

__

Dave thought Karkat had put an end to the silence, but the space between them now was void of sound. 

__

_Where’ve you gone when all my wounds need mending?_  
_Wait here for me… Wait here for me…_

Him? 

_Lost my way and, oh, I need your guidance_  
_Please don’t leave me… Please don’t leave me!_

Dave felt dried tear stains on the papers. Now he felt sick. 

_And I find it kind of funny. I find it kind of sad._  
_The dreams in which I’m_ dying _are the best I’ve ever had._

__

Reading that line still hurt just as much the second time. 

__

_I find it hard to tell you. I find it hard to take._  
_Surrounded by these bubbles, it’s a very very…_  
_Bad dream… Bad dream…_

__

His hand was shaking a tiny bit. He looked up at Karkat. The troll wouldn’t meet his gaze. 

“... What. the fuck. is this?” 

“A song.” That’s all Karkat said. 

It didn’t stop him from remembering, though. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's right! Another song from Broadway Karkat! This one's "Bad Dream", based on "Mad World". <3 One of my faves.
> 
> Heh. Next chapter's gonna huuuuuurt~


	13. Past Karkat: Stay Awake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A flashback.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friendly warning, graphic imagery in this chapter.

When he opened his eyes, it seemed brighter than it should be. Blurry. He rubbed his head, groaning. The world was golden but black and red and green all at the same time. Mostly golden, actually. What…

That’s right. Yes, he was… His mind filled in all the blanks. 

Prospit. He was on Prospit. He had just woken up _no, nono, don't let yourself sleep, wake up_ for the first time on the planet. 

He glanced around, eyesight still blurry. The golden buildings shone and glimmered by the light of Skaia. It was brighter than he remembered.

But this was his first time here, so how could he remember it?

 

_Run, get up and run, before it all goes wrong._

 

His head felt weird. He shook it softly. He stood softly, feeling unsteady on his feet - or maybe the ground was unsteady under him. He blinked a few times to clear his vision. 

When it did, he saw him.

 

_Nono please wake up_.

 

“Dave?” His back was turned, but Karkat could recognize that outfit anywhere. It wasn’t his Derse pajamas. It was his God Tier pajamas. Why did they have so many pajamas? He shook his head again, walking slowly forward.

He stopped.

Dave.

No, he… Dave hadn’t… He hadn’t even known Dave yet. Dave wasn’t on Prospit. Dave was a douche living in a human place called Texas, whatever that was. So why was he…

 

His eyes widened. His mind finally shouted at him the obvious, and he was already annoyed with his past self for not listening.

A dream. Nono, he didn’t want anymore of these, he thought these had stopped, he wanted to wake up, _now_.

But even if he knew it, he couldn’t stop the dream from happening. He just kept walking forward, hoping this Dave was his Dave. He needed someone right now, in case this all went… bad. “Dave? Is that uh… you?” Who knew the word ‘you’ would carry so much weight, now that Karkat had met so many… other Daves.

Dead Daves. He shuddered. No more thinking about dead friends. 

Dave didn’t turn around immediately. When he did, Karkat slouched a bit.

This one had on shades.

“Oh, heya, Karkles. How’re you?”

God, why did he have to sound so… familiar?

“You’re not mine, are you, you bulgefuck?” His tone was harsher than he’d intended, but he didn’t care. Right now, he just wanted _his_ Dave, the one who’d started getting closer to him, the one who wasn’t quite as much of a fucking dick as the others. He didn’t want to play pretend with these _other_ Daves.

This one laughed. Why did that sound still have to fill him with so much happiness? Karkat scowled. “Seeing as I don’t know what you mean, uh, probably not.” 

Karkat groaned, glancing around. The sky looked weird, here. Brighter. God, why was everything so BRIGHT? It looked like rainbows flashed off the surfaces of buildings, blinding him slightly. “I hate it when I’m dreaming. And why am I in THIS getup,” he asked, gesturing to all of himself. “Normally, I’m in my, you know, _normal_ outfit?”

Dave shrugged, glancing around with a smirk. “Dunno. This place does feel weird, though.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Have you seen anyone else?”

Karkat looked around. Easily, quickly, he spotted Nepeta in the distance. Looked like a Dream Nepeta. Or, well, a Dead Dream Nepeta, given… everything that happened. “Over there.” Karkat started to walk over. Anyone, even the girl with the unrequited flush crush, would be better to talk to than some fake Dave.

But of course, the asshole followed him. Karkat grit his teeth and bit back a growl, just walking over to Nepeta. “I’d rethink goin’ over there, Karkles.”

What the fuck did this Dave know? He wasn’t about to listen to this conceited past asshole. “And why the fuck not?”

“You’re gonna regret it.” His voice sounded like a laugh was behind it. God, what a dick.

“And I should listen to you why?”

He could hear that asshat shrug from here. “I dunno, Karkat. I just think you’re not gonna like what happens next.”

Karkat shut his eyes tight. He didn’t want to hear that voice right now. He didn’t want Dave right now, not in this place, not in his nightmares. Was this even a nightmare? Well this entire goddamn game was. So yeah. This was a nightmare.

And this Dave wasn’t helping at all. He sounded too familiar, but not at all familiar. No… No affection in his words, fuck, he’d fallen far. No. No thinking about Dave. Ignore the douchebag behind him, just keep walking. Ignore him. Keep walking. Forget he’s there and just…

Karkat kept walking. He crossed his arms, feeling… cold, suddenly. He reminded himself, this was a dream. Things felt off. Things would be off until he woke up. Which would hopefully be soon.

As he walked, he glanced at the sky. It flashed green for a minute, then bright red, then black again. Why was it so off? He felt like he was forgetting something very important about dream bubbles. He shook his head. No thinking about it, just let it happen, get it all over with.

He walked closer to Nepeta, arms crossed against his chest. “Hey, Nepeta.”

The girl turned, her bright white eyes seeming to sparkle with delight at seeing him. She opened her mouth, a wide smile, to speak with him, to welcome him, and the fucking idiot he was, he almost smiled, let his guard down in a dream bubble, _he should have fucking woke up, should’ve killed himself to just wake up now before_ -

 

A sword, right through her chest. Nepeta cringed, gasping as olive blood stained her lips. 

 

And behind her, behind that sword, behind it all was Jack, the man he trusted, the one he’d called friend. 

 

But no, this wasn’t quite him, that deadpan face without a trace of emotion over his latest kill wasn’t Jack - this was Bec Noir, this was a murderer who didn’t care who died. He just wanted to kill.

 

He stabbed her twice more, and Karkat realized he wasn’t breathing. He was just… watching. Watching the blood drip down her… her dress, her pajamas, stained green.

 

He staggered back, unable to find any words.

Silence.

No, His ears were ringing. His blood pusher was tight, it ached, pulsing and pounding in his skull. His thinkpan screamed in his head, broken, shattered, _he didn’t want to fucking see this, why was he seeing this_?

Noir pulled his sword back out of her body. She collapsed to the ground, shuddering. Her head was raised just enough to seek him out. God, her eyes, they sought him out and _pleaded_ for help, she needed his help and _he couldn’t give it to her, he was worthless, useless, he’d let her die_ -

Bec laughed. He laughed, distorted, and Karkat realized that the murderer was just another dream, another illusion, they were all just dreams -

“KARKAT, GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

Anguish. No, not his voice, not him. Karkat jumped, turning his head around to look at the boy who spoke. The air against his face as he turned made the tears (when had he started crying? No more crying, he couldn’t cry, not allowed, he had to be strong for them, for _him_ ) running down his face cold. And there, Dave, fuck, no, Dave-

“DAVE, GET OUT OF HERE!” 

He lurched forward, feeling himself running towards the human. Fuck which Dave he was, fuck everything else, he’d helped him once and he would save him now. He had to save him. That was the only thought, he had to help. Help. Save. Unite. That was his job. 

He’d failed too many times now to just fucking _give up_.

So many dead Daves. So many times something had gone wrong. He needed this to go right, he needed to make sure everything went right, that was what he did-

The look on Dave’s face wasn’t right at all. It was agony, sheer agony, knowing what was coming, what would happen, what MIGHT happen to both of them, no, nono, fuck, Karkat’s head hurt so much, the world was flashing with static and color all at the same time, with so many greens and blues and blacks and-

Dave, no, the heinous asshole was moving _towards_ him, no, run, RUN AWAY, “RUN, LET ME DIE, DON’T LET HIM-”

Of course, the fucker didn’t listen. Who ever listened to him?! NO ONE! No one listened and so Dave ended up-

Karkat screamed and screamed and screamed. Of course he saw Bec. Of course he saw the sword just- oh god, no, nonono, DAVE NO! He heard his voice, raw, screaming, so much noise until there was nothing, nothing but his screams and Dave, bl-

Bloody.

No, nonono- 

Dave’s shades shifted, askew on his pale face. That blank, white face. 

Blood ran down his sleeves. Dripped down his fingertips. Stained the blade sticking out of his chest. It was everywhere.

Candy red.

“N-No, please, god, no, nono, not him, not him-”

The white eyes behind those shades stared back at him, freezing him in place. God, no… No, they… they were so empty. So… so cold. No affection. No _love_. Just…

Dead.

Dave was dead.

 

Karkat had stopped screaming, but his mouth was still open.

 

Tears ran down his cheeks, down all of his face, he sniffed.

 

Dave was dead.

 

Karkat fell to his knees, weeping. It wasn’t _his_ Dave, he thought, it wasn’t-

It was Dave and he was _**fucking dead**_ , he hadn’t listened, the motherfucker, hadn’t run, hadn’t done anything but run towards _him_.

 

_He ran towards you._

_You were supposed to protect him._

“I can’t f--fucking protect h-him.”

 

Silence. God, just endless silence…

 

The body fell to the golden - static? - golden tiles Karkat was on. He was shaking- who was? Him, or Dave? Dead Dave, double dead, dying Dave. Both. Both of them were shaking. 

Bec Noir appeared behind Karkat. Karkat didn’t make a single noise. 

 

Silence. Quiet. Quiet, Karkat. 

 

No words could be said.

 

no.

 

_NO._

“YOU MOTHERFUCKER!”

Karkat stood, spinning around, fury in his eyes. No fear. Just hatred. Pure, sick, not even the _good kind_ of hatred. He hated this, hated seeing Dave’s body there, hated that he’d died because he wasn’t good enough, he would _never be good enough_ , but he wanted to fight to try and prove himself, he had to prove himself, WANTED TO SAVE HI-

His eyes widened, red flooding his eyes as tears rose to them faster.

 

Dead bodies, everywhere.

 

Sollux. Yellow blood dripping from his hollow eyes, teeth shattered. 

 

Feferi. A gaping hole in her chest. Magenta blood, jewelry askew.

Eridan. In half, cut in half cleanly-

His purple blood mixed with the green blood from Kanaya, no, not her too, not _all of them_ , but there she was, hole in her chest, slowly turning to ash.

More of them. Tavros, covered in caked brown blood. Terezi, god, Terezi with cloudy white eyes, her hand reaching out from the ground as teal tears ran from her eyes, shaking, trying to find comfort. Vriska, dead. Equius, dead, next to Nepeta, holding hands, dead next to each other. Gamzee, sliced in half, grinning and sobbing at the same time, screaming and muttering, and yet none of it could reach his ears, it was silent, a deaf world-

And more. And more. More bodies, repeats, humans mixing in with the trolls. 

Jade. Shattered glasses and dead, blank eyes. 

John. God, that fucker- god, the red that stained him, that smile gone, those buck teeth without a smile, that face without idiotic happiness-

Rose, ignoring it all, reaching for Kanaya and screaming, 3 trident holes piercing her chest, crying, weeping-

Dave.

Dave.

No.  
Not him.  
Please.

“P-Please,” Karkat whimpered softly, his legs weak. “Please, no. No nonono, god, no…”

And then the silence broke, he had spoke, now they all were too-

 

“You weak piece of shi-”  
“You cowar-”  
“Leaving us to di-”  
“-a disgrac-”  
“Deserve to di-”

 

“Please, no, p-”

 

“Leave us alone.”  
“We don’t want you.”  
“We don’t _need_ you.”

“You can’t help us anyways,” Dave’s voice said to him, loud, clear, strong. Karkat choked back a sob. “Never could. Never will.”

 

“It’s over, Kitkat. We’re done.”

 

The nickname. The word, that name he secretly loved, that name that tethered him to reality. No. nonno. No he couldn’t, not that word, not that name, that was _his_ Dave’s, not anyone elses-

Karkat looked up, his breath hitching. The world was breaking. Static everywhere, horrorterrors watching his every panicked breath. He couldn’t breathe, too much, _too much_ and they all stared at him, laughed at him, and somehow it was silent and loud all at the same time, and he sobbed, and god, he just wanted it to end, wanted it to be over, wanted to _die and get it over with, because then he’d be with them again_.

He’d be with Dave again.

 

“Kill me,” he whispered, scarcely feeling his breath on his lips.

 

Tentacles wrapped around him, sharp, painful, digging and tightening. He felt his bones ache. His body ached. His everything hurt, ached. He wanted it to end.

Candy red blood seeped from gashes on his arms. So much. Too much. His world was red. Bloody. Too much red.

Noir’s grip tightened. Karkat felt breath on his ears, the hint of a laugh.

 

“You’re done, boy,” came the distorted, warbling voice in his ear, the devil speaking to him directly, a demon straight from hell, and hell, the terrors spoke in that voice too, the very sound of the vast screams of the Void, and Karkat, Karkat was screaming as the beast dug its arm into his chest, stabbing a hole into him and burning everything with a white hot heat. 

White. Everything was turning white.

 

Karkat blinked through the whiteness, feeling himself lifted slightly.

 

He saw Dave’s body.

 

One thought crossed his mind as all the background noise stopped, and all that was left was ringing and just that one thought, one single question.

 

Was it wrong?

 

To be relieved to be dead?..........

 

 

 

Karkat woke up, not even able to scream. His eyes were wide, his face stained with tears. 

The ceiling was there, stable. In his ears, the screams of the horrorterrors were fading.

Noir’s words were fading.

 

Oh god.

 

That… 

 

Karkat took a shuddering breath. He felt… sick. He felt bad. God, so bad. 

 

He still felt relieved to have been…

 

No. no, he can’t… Can’t think like that!

 

He shuddered, sitting up and leaning against the wall. He’d fallen asleep in his pillows instead of the recipricoon. Bad dreams.

 

Bad dream.

 

What would Dave do right now?

 

He would… He would dissociate. He would distract himself.

 

He would write a song.

 

Still crying just slightly, Karkat sprang to his feet, grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, and furiously started to write.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, credit for parts of this chapter go to my good friend (read, moirail) guardian clover and her fanfiction, Hidden Thoughts and Teary Eyes! She's an amazing writer, and her fanfiction actually have me nightmares, so you all should go show her some love on my behalf because she deserves it. Her fic is angsty and feelsy and heartbreaking, but you're reading this, so that's no excuse not to read hers~ 
> 
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/874649/chapters/1680833


	14. Lovers: Strife

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who thought this was fucking right?
> 
> Who ever said any of what's happening is right?
> 
>  
> 
> God, why does this feel so _right_?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Congrats, everyone! I did a coin flip on if I should post the finished chapter tonight or not, and it said I should!
> 
> Also, congrats, because D:THATQ is now **100** pages long! I should do something to celebrate! 
> 
> Any ideas on how? Comment here, or send an ask over at davetellhimaboutthequadrants.tumblr.com!

Karkat looked away from Dave, the silence between them growing slowly. The memories of last night’s dream flashed in his mind like… Like a bad dream. All those flashing lights, all the gold… All that _red_. 

Ugh. He felt sick again.

 

“Karkat, give me a real goddamn answer.” Dave sounded really angry this time around. Part of him knew that should make him feel a bit guilty but… Right now, Karkat just wanted to _stop_ feeling. He was pretty sure he was doing a good job of it.

“Look, fucker, I don’t have to tell you shit. It’s just a song, not like it’s impo-”

“It’s fucking important to me!” Karkat paused, looking back at Dave. Oh… Oh god. 

Dave’s hand was clenched around the paper, his hands shaking. His fist was balled up at his side. He looked angrier than Karkat had ever seen him - other than maybe after Karaoke night (would he ever be able to forget that awful night, or the week that followed?). His face was heating up, turning a bit red from anger. Karkat couldn’t look directly into his eyes.

 

Well.

 

Shit.

 

“Dave, calm do-”

“NO! Goddamn it, Karkat, why didn’t you fucking say something?” Dave licked his lips, forcing himself to try and calm down. The lights stung a bit more when he got stressed, he had to reign himself in. No freak outs. He was only calming down because he had to, not because Karkat had-

 

Karkat.

 

Dave grit his teeth together, shutting his eyes tightly. He took a deep breath. Karkat… This _fucker_ had sat there and calmed him down so many times already, and fuck if he hadn’t let down all of his walls and let him in, and where did that leave them? Fuck him. Fuck him _so much_.

He still hadn’t answered the goddamn questions.

“Vantas, you motherfucker, answer my questions or _so help me_ , I will go off on you.”

_Oh, like you did already?_ Karkat bit back the mental retort, crossing his arms tightly across his chest. “You don’t need to hear about every single nightmare-”

“You’re having nightmares?” Dave groaned, slamming the lyrics on the desk. Karkat jumped back, surprised. The blanket around his shoulders slipped off, falling to the floor unnoticed. Dave struggled to hold himself back. No. No, he was _not_ doing this shit. He was better than this, goddamn it! What happened 2 weeks ago should have been in the fucking past! 

 

_Your bro was in the past too, doesn’t mean it doesn’t still fucking hurt_.

 

“You should. have. told. me.” Each word was singular, stressed. God, if he wasn’t stressed himself. Why did Karkat think keeping that shit to himself was a good idea? “Is _that_ why you’ve been so fucking off today!? Because of some goddamn dream, something that didn’t even fucking happ-”

“It DID happen.” Dave looked up sharply. Karkat’s eyes were shut now, his nails digging into his arm. Dave knew he should be feeling something right now, feeling bad, wanting to comfort him, but he was too fucking pissed. Karkat shook his head. “Just because it was just a dream doesn’t mean it wasn’t fucking _real_ , Dave!”

“THEN WHY THE FUCK DIDN’T YOU TELL ME!?” _Fuck, no, that’s too much, too much too fast, you’re getting too angry-_

“BECAUSE I DIDN’T WANT YOU TO DO _THIS_!” Karkat’s eyes opened fast and _fuck_ what was that in his eyes? It was like a fire behind those grey pupils. For an instant, he almost thought those grey eyes, those silver shining eyes that he loved so fucking much were red, were _his_. God, no, he didn’t want Karkat to be him. He shook his head of all the thoughts, biting back an inhuman growl. What the hell-

Karkat’s face was flushed as he shouted. “You’re so easily fucked up, Dave! One sentence from me and I can make you go off the goddamn deep end! And you know the only REASON I don’t tell you this shit?!” Karkat let his hands fall to his sides, his arms rigid. “It’s because I’m so FUCKING SCARED, Dave!”

 

...What?

 

The room suddenly felt colder.

 

“...Scared?” Karkat took a step back, eyes widening. Dave’s voice was… quiet. There was a sharp edge to his voice. His back straightened up, his eyes shining. “You’re _scared_?” Karkat hesitated. This shift felt so… so fucking terrifying. He nodded after a second. Dave shook his head in disbelief. “You think… you have the _motherfucking right_ to tell me you’re scared after the shit you just pulled today?”

 

_No, Dave, you’re fucking scaring hi-_   
_**GOOD.** _

“Do you not REALIZE how fucking terrifying this bullshit is?” he asked, his volume starting to rise slowly as he pointed to the lyrics. “Do you have any idea how much it hurts that you don’t fucking _trust me_ enough-”

“Dave, it’s not like tha-”

“THAT YOU DON’T FUCKING,” he yelled, cutting Karkat off, “TRUST ME.” Karkat was trembling, a soft growl growing in his throat. He hated feeling this… this _scared_ , this angry. “You handle all of my fucking bullshit, but the instant something goes wrong for you, you can’t work up enough goddamn courage to tell me!”

“Don’t bring fucking COURAGE into this, Strider, you’re just as ba-”

“Did it not fucking occur to you to tell me!?” Dave stepped forward, gesturing with his hands. “Did you think I couldn’t help!?”

“How the fuck were you going to help?! You can’t even help _yourself_!”

 

Karkat’s eyes widened as the words left his mouth. No. No, what was he thinking, he had never intended to say that! It had just happened, though, it just… 

 

Dave stopped. He hadn’t been doing anything anyways, but he physically just… stopped. Time seemed to stop around them. It was just… just those words now.

 

_You can’t even help yourself_.

 

What the hell do you even say to that?

The worst part, _the absolute worst part_ , was that it was true.

He couldn’t fucking save himself. He’d been in a fucking abusive relationship for 15 years without even knowing. He had sat around _his entire fucking life_ and just _let_ that shit happen. And where was he right now?

Damaged.

Broken.

 

_You can’t even help yourself_.

 

“You’re right. I can’t. Guess I shouldn’t bother fuckin’ trying, huh?” 

“Dave, wai-”

No. No, that fucker didn’t get to say that. Dave shook his head, walking towards the door. 

Karkat stepped in his way. Dave’s eyes narrowed. “Get the fuck outta my way, Vantas.”

Karkat growled. Dave had stopped using his name. He was trying to make this less personal, less meaningful. What gave him the fucking right? He had just had a fucking fit over this, but oh, as soon as this troll bit back, Dave put up those walls of his again? “No.”

“VANTAS, I FUCKING SWEAR.” Dave growled, stepping close, leaning over Karkat a bit. The troll wasn’t much smaller than him, but it was enough to make him feel bigger, stronger, able to handle this. He was going to get out that door, cool off in his room before he did something he’d really regret. “If you don’t get out of my way, I’m going to _make you_ get out of my way.”

“I. fucking. dare you.” 

Dave’s eyes narrowed. He grabbed Karkat by the shoulder with one hand - oh, that jolt under his hands as he made contact felt _very_ good. That fucker should be scared. Pulling this shit on him. 

_Why do I wanna make him feel even worse?_

Dave didn’t question the thought. He just realized he actually _did_ want that right now. Not meeting Karkat’s eyes, Dave pushed him out of the way of the door. He hit the button and walked through, ignoring the feeling of stunned silence behind him. That silence was quickly broken as he made his way down the hall.

“Dave. Get your ass back here.”

Dave ignored it.

“STRIDER.”

He sounded so angry. God, that felt good. _Right_. 

 

_What the hell is wrong with you, you wanted to comfort him not even like an hour ago, what happened?_

 

This fucker lied to him is what happened. He deserved a bit of tough love.

Dave made it to his room, hearing Karkat close behind. He glanced back slightly, eying the troll through the corner of his eyes. He was flushed, panting, anger bright in his eyes - that red glint was back. Dave could hear something but couldn’t place what the sound was. 

And goddamn if the sight of Karkat just fucking trying to get on his ass about this didn’t make him angrier.

“Vantas.” Karkat stood straighter, taller. “You try and follow me in here… and I’ll do a lot more than just give you a busted lip.” Karkat scowled, his lips curling a bit. Dave raised a brow at the showing off of his fangs. 

Whatever. The fucking moron had his warning now. Dave turned back to the door and opened it, walking in.

He stopped in the middle of his room. The furniture had been replaced. New bedspread, a desk and chair, all his music equipment moved in after they were sure he wouldn’t destroy it. Closet restocked. Light above his head still too bright, just… fueling the bitterness in his body right now. He felt so damn angry, but god, why did it feel so good?

He heard the door close behind him.

He turned his head to the opposite side this time, looking behind him.

 

Karkat stood in front of the door, tall, strong, and obviously pissed off. 

“... What did I fucking s-”

“I don’t care.” Dave glared at him, that fire inside him getting stoked. He fucking interrupted him?! “You can throw around as many threats as you want, you can hit me as much as you fucking want to, but I am _not_ going to let you get off on isolating yourself after all the work I went through _fixing_ you.”

“FIXING me?” Dave slowly walked up closer. “So now I’m just some broken bitch you felt the need to repair? Something for you to PITY?”

Karkat laughed bitterly, eyes widening a bit as he growled, nearly snarling. What was- “Oh, this is a _hell_ of a lot more than _pity_.” Oh my god, what was he saying- why was this so right?

Dave looked furious. _He looks cute when he’s angry-_ Karkat blinked once, trying to get the thought out of his head to no avail. He… No, wait, this…

Dave stepped closer. “Insults too. Low, Vantas. I have half a mind to make you shut up.” In an instant, all those rational thoughts in his head shut up, all that confusion left in the place of hatred. Sheer, utter hatred, burning hate that just warmed his entire body. 

Karkat thought, this fucker had just walked into his life, mixed everything up, but didn’t have the goddamn courage to drop his walls all the way, wasn’t certain of himself enough to even try to think before flying off the handle. What right did he have to pull this isolation shit, to threaten him?

Dave thought, this asshole had fucking tried to _fix_ him, tried to do the impossible really, but that was besides the point. He wanted to _control_ him, Karkat just wanted to use him a fucking pet project. He wasn’t going to let that happen. Dave was going to be in control, whether Karkat liked it or not.

Karkat opened his mouth to speak, surprising even himself with a soft hiss. “Prove it,” he said, his voice lower, deeper, hatred in every syllable.

 

Dave smirked. His hand slammed against the door, the other grabbing Karkat’s shirt collar, picking him up. Training had paid off. Karkat’s eyes widened in shock.

And Dave, fuck if he knew why…

 

He leaned forward and kissed the troll boy hard, deep, with more passion than he ever thought he would, and it was just…

 

Right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be quite the treat... <3


	15. Pitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _What are we?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mom, Dad, if you got this far into this story without already yelling at me for the homosexual relationship, stop reading here because I don't think you're prepared for this.
> 
>  
> 
> For everyone else: Explicit Content Warning!~

Well.

 _That_ shut him up.

His lips were rougher than he’d imagined. He could feel every crevice in their surface, feel how perfectly his lips lined up with his own. He pressed deeper into the kiss, surprising them both with the neediness behind it; his partner mirrored the action. 

 

Dave felt Karkat gripping his shirt to pull him closer. His eyes were closed, but God, he could see it all so clearly. The anger in Karkat’s face. The blush, staining up to his ears. His eyes closed in desperation. All of that image, the way he blushed and breathed and moved, everything was so perfect, too perfect - perfect enough that all those thoughts in his head, the ones that told him to get out, now, before he ruined that perfection…

All of them shut the fuck up as soon as he kissed Karkat.

 

Karkat shivered slightly, his hands clenching onto Dave’s shirt. Dave was still holding him up by the collar, still manhandling him, and God, it made him feel so _different_. He’d vacillated black once or twice (and that’s what this was, that’s the only way this could feel like this, how he could still want to bite, harm, _kill_ this motherfucker), but never had he ever felt _this_.

He felt like, suddenly, they were two candles lit with a single flame, melting together, hissing and sparking as the other’s wax got too close. 

Hissing.

 

Karkat pulled back, hissing, his eyes shooting open. He was hissing. 

Dave opened his eyes, watching Karkat, his red eyes shimmering as he took in the flushed troll’s face. He grinned wide, eyes narrowing. He looked so fucking pleased with himself, so fucking _cocky_ , who gave him that right after what he just did? Karkat tensed as Dave leaned forward again, this time to his left. He could feel Dave’s breath, hot on his ear, as he whispered ever so softly:

 

“Proved it.” 

 

He left go, leaving Karkat to stumble back to the floor, almost losing his footing. He’d only been a few inches off the ground, but still he had to catch himself. The kiss had left him dazed, confused, startled - and so. SO. fucking. ANGRY.

He growled, eyes narrowing. Dave put his arms behind his head, smirking. “Aww, did I make you mad?” He winked, making Karkat’s heart do a flip. He was actively flirting at this point, antagonizing him - did Dave realize what he was doing?

Karkat could feel adrenaline rushing through his body. He had to act. Now. But still, he hesitated - how would Dave react? No, no, he couldn’t ruin this, couldn’t let himself ruin this perfection, couldn’t ruin this connection-

“What’re you waiting for, bastard?” Karkat snarled at Dave’s comment. “A goddamn invitation?”

“What do you think I’m gonna do?” His voice was deeper, a roar in his body but hardly a whisper beyond that, a seductive growl he’d never heard from his own voice. 

“Nothing. You’re a coward, remember?”

 

Dave gasped, his dodging skills rusty after so long gone from home. Karkat tackled him, surprisingly strong for his size, making them both land on the nearby bed. Karkat pinned his arms down, hardly registering any of the movements he made. The next thing he knew, his knees rested on either side of Dave, his blush growing more pronounced, hatred in his eyes.

“W-Woah, Karkles-” Dave gulped, eyes wide as he finally began to grasp his situation. What, was that fear? Karkat bit back another snarl. What was…

 

He’d never felt like this before.

 

“Call me a fucking coward again, Strider.” He was almost panting, _fuck_ , why was this kismessitude so intense? His entire body was reacting, he felt nervous and hot from the anger, all that tension in him, all those unresolved arguments they’d started and never finished. He just wanted to _strangle_ this asshole, make him feel the same way.

_So why can’t you imagine life without him?_

 

Dave licked his lips. They stayed in this position longer than either of them comprehended. Dave… thought. A lot. _How the fuck did we get here?_ In all of his time with Karkat, he’d never imagined that this would happen. Or, at least, not like _this_. 

His mind flashed back to that day with 50 shades, and his little ‘break’ in the bathroom. Was Karkat… Fuck. 

Karkat wanted sex.

_Shit shit shit shit, no, you’re too young, too broken, don't let him waste his time on you-_

Karkat growled louder, a sliver of that red in his grey eyes again, making his face sharper, the growl rougher, _fuck that shouldn't be as attractive as it sounded_. God, he was so pissed off, angry, and Dave felt so damn conflicted! 

He wanted to make Karkat feel better.

He wanted to hurt him.

He wanted to comfort him.

He wanted _him_. 

 

“Coward,” he spat out, going for it, and the surprise in Karkat’s eyes as they both understood what Dave meant, what Dave was agreeing to right now, he looked so shocked.

And it all faded as Karkat leaned in, kissing Dave hard, fighting a moan and pressing his body into Dave’s, relishing how the human tensed from the action. Dave gasped in surprise, humming slightly. God, his kisses were so addicting, he pressed in deeper, harder-

He groaned, shifting, his pants getting a bit tight. Fuck, already? Karkat seemed to notice immediately. Curiously, he reached down, his hand grazing over the tent forming there; Dave hissed lightly through his teeth, his chin raising softly. Karkat laughed softly at his reaction before leaning down, biting into Dave’s exposed neck.

How did Karkat get so good at this? Dave groaned as he felt the slightest twinge of pain his neck; those fangs might not be the sharpest, but they were still fangs. He could feel Karkat’s cocky smirk at his minute squirms and sounds. “J-Jackass,” he mumbled, almost breathless already. God, why was Karkat able to do this to him so easily? 

_Why do you still feel so angry at him? You should be enjoying this more, loving him, not hating him, you broken piece of-_

“Shut the fuck up, Strider.” Karkat sounded so confident, his hand coming up to Dave’s neck, the nails scratching his skin lightly. All that fire that was being smothered by those kisses was suddenly lit again, this _bastard_ wasn't about to tell him what to do. Dave’s eyes narrowed, and he grinned as he pulled his hands away from Karkat’s, much to the troll’s surprise. Without hesitation or the slightest bit of shame, he reached up and grabbed both of Karkat’s horns, his fingers brushing against the sensitive bone.

The response was immediate. Karkat moaned, gasping and tensing up before biting off the moan - literally having to bite his lip to muffle himself. Dave’s grin grew wider as he stroked Karkat’s horns, tracing the grooves there with nothing holding him back. The surface was so much softer than he expected, but hard enough to get a firm grip; he wrapped his hand around one, gripping it tightly. “F-Fuck,” Karkat said, breathless. “D-Dave, fuck-”

“I know.” He tugged down on Karkat’s horn to bring him in close again. Still rubbing, stroking, he leaned up and bit his partner right above the collarbone, his spare hand falling to the bed to support him. Karkat gasped, practically mewling from the action. Dave smirked, biting and sucking at the skin. He lifted off after a moment, blowing cold air onto the newly forming hickey. The skin began to turn a darker grey, even just a bit pink. He glanced at Karkat, who looked a bit dizzied and obviously pent up. “Aww, cute.”

“F-Fuck you,” he said, hatred laced in every heated breath.

“Isn't that the plan?” Karkat’s blush got worse, growl louder, _fuck_ he was hot. Dave grinned, gazing into Karkat’s eyes, loving the anger in them. “C’mon, Kitkat, no holding out.”

 

There was a brief pause.

 

He’d called him Kitkat.

 

_What are we?_

 

Karkat didn't let that mental question stop him, and Dave was going to ignore that question as much as possible. So they did what two boys in love do and kissed again.

Only, this time, Dave felt Karkat start to grind against him. He felt Karkat bite his lip, feeling the briefest amount of pain, but God, every ounce of pleasure was like heroin. He wanted more of Karkat. He wanted everything.

He pushed Karkat off of him, sitting up rapidly, his eyes going to Karkat’s crotch. There was a definite bulge (ha) there. Karkat looked shocked. “What’re you-” Dave didn't let him finish (yet). He leaned down, tugging the button on Karkat’s pants until it popped. He grabbed the edge of them and pulled them down quickly, feeling… eager. He was panting just slightly.

He slowly, agonizingly slowly, pulled down Karkat’s boxers. Karkat shivered under him, paralyzed, only able to watch. His hands tightened on the sheets under him as Dave could only take it in.

His original thought had been right: it matched the blood shades. It was a deep red color, just a bit darker than Dave’s own blood. Smooth, by the looks of it. Under it was the nook, just like a human girl’s, but this was different, this was Karkat, this was a guy with a vag and a fucking tentacle, and for some reason, the sight just made him harder. There was a light sheen to the latter, which seemed to suggest it was slimy. 

Was it?

He hesitated for just a second before grinning. No stopping now. He reached out his hand and gently grazed his fingertips over the tentabulge; Karkat tensed up very slightly at the touch. Dave nodded. Slimy, but not too slimy. Hardly noticeable. It felt… warm. He wrapped his hand around it, slowly rubbing. His grin grew as he heard Karkat’s breath hitch slightly, feeling the shiver go through his body. Perfect. He leaned down, breathing on Karkat’s ear once more as he spoke; “feels good?”

Karkat hissed in response, his back arching a tiny bit as he squirmed. “N-Nnf, Strider, y-you ass-”

“That’s a yes.” He pulled up again, just watching Karkat’s reactions as his hand began to move faster. The troll’s eyes were alight, almost glowing, his teeth grit into a half-formed snarl, face flushed red from Dave’s movements. Dave bit the inside of his cheek, grinding a bit against Karkat as he watched him squirm and writhe. He looked so damn cute, so damn _angry_ , he just wanted him to be angrier, to tip him over the edge.

While one hand took the reins, the other found it’s way under Karkat’s shirt, tracing his chest. He wasn’t perfectly toned, but he still had abs that Dave loved, that Dave ran his fingertips over just for Karkat’s pathetic little mewls. His hands paused as Karkat groaned; he squeezed Karkat’s side, his ribs, getting the same reaction. “Soft spot, Kitkat?”

“D-Don’t fucking CALL ME that!” Karkat opened his eyes again, panting, but Dave ignored that outraged (that turned on) face and instead grabbed the hem of Karkat’s shirt, tugging it off. Karkat didn’t fight it, but the wrath on his face had yet to leave. Aww, he was grumpy. Dave leaned in, kissing him hard again, relishing the taste of those lips as his tongue brushed against them. 

A tiny noise formed in Karkat’s throat at the contact, and after a pause he began pushing back. God, why were his lips so firm, so soft, so _good_? Even the slightest touch sent him reeling, begging for more. He pushed against Dave, longing to be touched more, and Dave seemed to just know what to do. His hand, the one on Karkat’s bulge, started to move again, it had paused and he hadn’t even noticed. Karkat moaned under the kiss, his hips shifting slightly to push into Dave’s hand more. 

It wasn’t enough yet. Karkat felt his hand reach up almost unconsciously, grabbing Dave’s hair, tugging at it. Dave made a soft sound of surprise, not quite a groan of pleasure, but close to. He felt Dave’s tongue pushing against his lips again and let him in, feeling Dave quickly mark every part of his mouth, needy and insistent. 

It felt like eons until they parted, panting, breathless as they watched each other. Karkat’s eyes flicked down to the tent in Dave’s pants, a hasty laugh leaving his lips. “P-Pent up?”

Dave sat up a tiny bit straighter, realizing his face was just as red as Karkat’s. He shifted, licking his lips, they felt so dry suddenly. “Y-Yeah, just- gimmie a sec-” He fumbled slightly with the button.

“Can’t do anything right, c-can you?” Karkat smirked at Dave’s glare. “Lemmie help you, asshole.” Without waiting for a reply, Karkat leaned forward, easily getting the button. Dave nodded slightly, appreciatively, as Karkat worked to pull his pants off. His hand never left Karkat’s body, tracing his thighs up to his horns, touching anywhere he could. There was this roar in Karkat’s ears, a fire in his veins, and most of all, a deep ache in his nether regions, he needed more, wanted so much more.

He pulled down Dave’s pants and boxers, eyes raising at his partner’s erection. That... hadn’t been what he imagined, and yet… He ran his hand up the edge of it curiously, mimicking Dave’s motions from earlier. Dave sighed in response, a pleasant sigh, one of soft relief. He kept going, wrapping a hand around it, rubbing and stroking, heart beating harder as he heard Dave’s little moans and sighs. “Harder than I expected,” Karkat mumbled, hardly registering his words.

Dave didn’t respond. The look on his face was one of bliss. Karkat grinned. The knowledge that he was actually doing this, making Strider squirm and moan, made him hotter and more pent up than ever. He grabbed the hem of Dave’s shirt and tugged it off with little resistance. He glanced him over, eyes pausing on the tally marks on his upper arm. “What’re-”

“Doesn't matter right now.” Dave grabbed Karkat, pinning him down now, hunger in his eyes. Karkat felt his blush get worse - why the hell was he on bottom, he was the one who knew what to do in this situation, not-

But then Dave started grinding his cock against Karkat’s nook, causing him to gasp. Fuck. Fuck, why did that feel so _good_? He could feel everything and then some, the way Dave breathed, his own juices spread along Dave’s length, that deep need growing inside him to be filled that he couldn't remember feeling this strongly. 

His bulge had a mind of its own. It started to coil around Dave’s cock, causing Dave to pause, moaning. Karkat bit down a groan as he felt himself coil around Dave, starting to jerk him off; every movement, all that friction sent shots of electricity up his spine. He spread his legs wider, unconsciously begging his partner for more. 

Dave seemed to be getting the hint. “Y-You ready?” he asked, lining the tip up and grinding that into Karkat’s folds. Karkat bit down harder, trying to muffle his needy moans, taking deep breaths. How would this work? Dave was big, long, how would it even fit if it couldn't bend like a tentabulge? This wouldn't work, neither of them would be satisfied, they would never work together-

“P-Please,” he panted out, eyes opening again to take in Dave’s flushed face, that red beneath his pale cheeks, that lust in his eyes. Dave's face split into a grin, relief evident.

“Finally.”

 

Neither of them were quite ready. Dave thrust in smoothly, gasping a bit as he felt Karkat squeezing him. “F-Fuck, y-you’re tight!” He took a shuddering breath, knowing Karkat couldn't hear him over that moan, that cute ass moan that just made him want to make him scream. He could feel Karkat trying to move his arms and lifted his hands so he could. The first thing he did was grab Dave’s neck, tugging him down for another kiss, pushing his tongue in immediately. Dave hummed in surprise as they both adjusted to this new feeling.

Karkat’s hand strayed to Dave’s back. He felt… grooves. Bumps. He peeked over Dave’s shoulder and saw pale scars crisscrossing his back. “Dave…” He searched his face for a moment, seeing the slight embarrassment. Oh, that wouldn't do.

“It’s just from my Bro,” he mumbled, trying to stop the questions before they started. “Don't worry-”

He had to pause as Karkat kissed the front his neck and bit, hard. He tensed up slightly, groaning. Karkat pulled away, panting. “You’re the one worrying about it. N-Now start fucking me again, asshole.” As though pushing his point forward, his tentabulge started moving again, tightening around Dave’s dick and massaging it with its movements. 

Dave was only happy to comply. Enough time to talk about the scars later. He started thrusting again, relishing the feeling of Karkat’s inner walls tensing around him. He groaned under his breath as he plunged ever deeper into his partner, friend, _lover_. And Karkat, fuck, how could Karkat not see how perfect he was? This perfection around him, and they had been arguing? He was angry, so mad with Karkat-

Karkat, whose tentabulge was still wrapped tight around him, whose moans drove him onward, whose little stuttered out whispers of “please” and “more” made his heart pound in his chest like he'd never truly felt before. 

How could he stay mad at Karkat?

Karkat rested his hands on Dave’s shoulders, no longer fighting the moans he knew he would never hold back. Each thrust just felt too good, his body screaming in pleasure. He wrapped his legs up and around Dave, gasping and mewling heatedly as he felt Dave plunge even deeper into his core, feeling Dave’s hips against his, grinding, pushing with need, want, lust - and he relished the joy, pleasure, there was no anger in him right now, no hatred, only love- _What are we_ his thoughts asked again, but he brushed it away, it didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was Dave.

Fuck, _Dave_.

“D-Dave, I-” He shuddered slightly at a particularly hard thrust, feeling all that pleasure building up inside him. He was so close to that peak, whimpering, so damn close to finishing. Dave seemed to know already, going faster, leaning down and biting hard into the joint of Karkat’s neck. 

It didn't take long at all. Thrust after thrust, he could feel himself tensing up more. His tentabulge was squeezing Dave tight, rubbing fast, faster, always faster, and his insides were milking him for all he was worth; Karkat felt his breath shuddering, shaking, trying to hold off the inevitable. Dave growled in his ear, thrusting hard, and Karkat could feel it, the peak, the fall, he was-

“D-Dave, I-I’M-” He couldn't get the full sentence out before white seemed to overtake his vision. He felt himself cum, felt all the tension is his body grow and time seemed to freeze, his mind shutting down, and everything went quiet, peaceful, perfect. His eyes were shut tight, mouth open, he could hear his moan, loud and satisfied. He could feel Dave sinking in further, all that pressure inside- he registered that he could hear Dave moaning, hear him close, his ragged breaths, and then he could feel Dave cumming too, spurred on by his own orgasm. He could feel that warmth inside him, foreign, new, and he loved it so much. 

 

In the moments following, they both relaxed. Dave slowly slid out of Karkat, relishing the way the troll shuddered. He took a breath or two, smiling lazily. He felt so… content. Both of them still naked, they curled up in the bed, ignoring the mess they’d made for the time being. Dave held Karkat close to him, his hands gingerly tracing the troll’s chest. Karkat didn't protest at all. They just stayed like that, relaxed, at ease. Dave realized dimly that the lights were still on and clapped his hands weakly. They turned off.

“... Did you really just clap off the lights?” Karkat asked wearily.

“Maybe.”

He couldn't help himself. He begrudgingly smiled, starting to laugh. Karkat just laughed, shoulders shaking a bit. Dave watched him, a bit concerned. “Goddamn it,” Karkat muttered, exhausted. He didn't regret what just happened, but… “What… What the hell are we?”

 

They shared a short silence before Dave held him closer, shutting his eyes. 

 

“Isn't ‘together’ enough of an answer?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Want to discuss that ending, or just say hi? Why not visit the tumblr? :D
> 
> http://davetellhimaboutthequadrants.tumblr.com/


	16. ==>

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The answer.

Everything was warm. Soft. Comfortable. His breaths were soft and easy, effortless. It was like his bed was a cloud, and he, Karkat Vantas, was starting to just sink into it and disappear into the fluff.

Vantas?

He smiled to himself at that name, feeling Dave’s hands wrap tighter around his chest. What a silly name that was. He opened his eyes slowly, taking in the room without really seeing it, just relishing the feeling of being next to Dave. The covers shifted around them softly. “Mornin’ babe,” the groggy man muttered, still half asleep.

Karkat cuddled up closer against Dave, feeling Dave’s hands find his own. Their fingers brushed against each other as they interlocked. “Morning, asswhipe.” Dave chuckled and kissed his neck softly, earning a pleased, content sigh.

“That’s Mister Strider to you.”

Karkat’s smile widened to a smirk. 

“And here I thought I was the new ‘Mr. Strider’.”

 

Karkat’s eyes shot open, taking in the empty room, the completely different room, with only a slight shock. He jolted when he did so, causing the still sleeping form of Dave next to him to shift slightly, mumbling. He felt Dave’s grip around him get a tiny bit tighter - not uncomfortably so. 

He took a deep breath.

 

What the hell was… 

 

Oh.

A blush took to his cheeks.

Last night. That… happened.

 

He gulped. He and Dave… oh Jegus. 

 

Was that why he was having weird dreams about being Dave’s… Oh god, he’d wanted to be Dave’s husband in that dream. Husband. As in, married to him. He was starting to think like a human, gross! Was it cause of all that human stuff inside-

“Strider!” His voice came out a bit higher pitched than he’d wanted, though still not as loud as normal. He licked his lips (did they taste like him?), blushing still. “Strider, wake up…” 

Dave shifted but didn't wake up. Karkat glanced at the clock nearby. It was early, according to that. Besides, they were both exhausted (and a bit sore) after last night. Dave probably wouldn’t be waking up soon. He curled up tighter into Dave, still blushing, blinking as he thought about everything. 

The vacillations. The romance. The _sex_. God, the sex. He could feel the bite on his collarbone tingling. He knew Dave probably had a mark or two himself. Karkat still felt a little unclean after last night, though it wasn’t too bad. But still… He couldn't believe he let last night happen.

He… He couldn't believe how much he loved it.

That was so weird. No, he was a troll, Dave was a human. He had never dreamed of being with a human - of really being with anyone. Terezi had been a fling, he knew. Sollux was a friend and nothing more. Gamzee was… something, he had no idea. Definitely not anything romantic. But Dave… Dave wasn’t even a _troll_. They weren’t… They weren’t compatible, were they? All of that was just... weird. So weird.

 

It hadn't been weird last night.

 

Ugh. Okay, thinking was just not… not working right now. Karkat let his eyes droop a tiny bit, feeling his hands brush against Dave’s, just like in the dream. He heard a pleased murmur behind him, but Dave was definitely still asleep. Soon, Karkat was as well. 

This time, he didn't dream.

 

“Mm… Karkles?” 

Karkat stirred, much more gently than he had earlier. Everything felt fantastic again, like in that dream. Nice, warm, safe. It was a feeling he could get used to… Dave gently kissed his cheek, further waking him up. “Wha time is’t,” he mumbled, almost purring. _Pull yourself together, Vantas, you’re acting like a purrbeast._ For some reason, that little voice in his head didn’t make him feel any worse; he blatantly disregarded the comment and continued to purr.

“Gettin’ later? Doesn't matter.” Dave was speaking quietly, sounding happier than Karkat had ever heard him. He chuckled softly. That was a very nice sound to wake up to. “Do you care?”

Karkat groaned softly, rubbing his eyes and starting to sit up. “Ugh, yeah. Everyone must be wondering where we are.” He stretched out softly with a yawn; part of him knew he should be self conscious about being naked, but after last night… No more shame. He stood and looked around for his pants, squinting. “Can't see very well, mind if I hit the lights?”

He heard a groan from Dave. “Do you have to?” Whiny asshole. Whiny adorable hot asshole.

“Look, just cause you’re still half-asleep-”

“Nono, it's not that, it’s…” He paused. Karkat glanced back at him. He wasn't looking directly at Karkat, watching the ceiling. “I’m photophobic.”

What? “Like, afraid of lights?”

“What? Nah, light is cool I guess. It's just that like my eyes are affected by the light more than other people’s are. Like, it seems way too bright with them on sometimes.” He paused again, sighing. “It’s uh… cause of my condition.”

Karkat sat on the edge of the bed, frowning. “Condition? Is that what Rose mentioned?”

Dave sat up a bit more, leaning against the pillows and glancing at Karkat. “She mentioned it?”

“She said your eye color wasn't natural. I think that has something to do with why your skin is so pale.”

Karkat finally found his pants and underwear and started to put them on. Dave looked at him and grinned (also, where was his bulge? Did it like retract or something, what the hell). “Dude, why do you wear boxers?”

“What do you mean?”

“Briefs would work so much better with those tight ass pants of yours.” Dave laughed at Karkat’s scowl. “Go on, try a pair on if you don’t believe me, they’re in the bottom drawer.”

“Stop changing the subject.” Karkat pulled off the boxers and went to Dave’s clothing drawer (definitely because he didn’t believe Dave, and not just because Dave suggested it). “What ‘condition’ is it that you have??”

“It's something humans call Albinism.” Dave sat up completely, one arm crossed behind his head. “See, it means my skin lacks pigment - like you said, I’m pale as shit. It's why my eyes are red and why light burns and it's one reason I act cool all the time.”

Karkat paused, buttoning his pants over the (surprising comfortable, he loathed to confess) briefs. “ _Act_ cool?”

Dave laughed rather unconvincingly. “I mean, I’m hella cool all the time but it's like I gotta act less cool, but still kinda cool, cause of how cool I really am.”

Wow. A+ on that one, Strider. Karkat frowned. “Don't lie to me, Dave.”

Dave groaned, rubbing his face. “Ugh, fine, so maybe everyone assuming that it's so cool to be pale and hate sunlight and burn really easy grates on the nerves. So I gotta act like it’s cool to be like this, even though it fucking sucks?”

Karkat was actually surprised, probably evident on his face. Dave had never been so… open before. Normally he was so cagey about things. Dave seemed to notice his reaction, and somehow he managed to put two and two together in a single blink. “What? Did you think I would be a hypocrite after everything that happened yesterday? I wanted you to tell me what was wrong.” He grinned, blushing lightly; his smile looked more genuine, fuller, _real_ for once. “I figure you probably want me to do the same.”

“Well, duh.” Karkat pulled on his shirt, shivering - it hadn't been nearly this cold last night (he kept thinking of it as last night, but they'd done that in the afternoon and just slept till now). Though, last night, they’d been under the covers.

(He realized that they had fallen asleep above the covers, and that at some point last night, Dave must have pulled the covers up around them both.)

He sat next to Dave, running a hand through his ruffled black hair. Should he brush it? “I… I guess I can understand how much it sucks to be a mutant.” _He doesn’t want to hear you whine, shut up._ Again, Karkat bit back the idea as it came to his mind. No, if Dave was being open about his feelings, Karkat would be too.

“What?” 

Karkat rolled his eyes. “You know all about it already, I kno-”

“No. I don't.” Karkat glanced at him, surprised. Dave looked pretty serious suddenly, eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean you can understand?”

Karkat blinked. “You… don't know I’m a mutant troll?”

“No!” Dave frowned. “What, is it just cause your horns are so nubby or-”

“What? No. No, my horns are fine, shut up.” Dave allowed himself a small smile at that. “No, it’s… You know, my blood? Trolls don't have red blood, but I do.”

“But what about that Aradaya-”

“Aradia.”

“Aradia chick? Doesn't she have red blood?” 

“No, no, she's got rust blood. It's the very bottom of the hemospectrum. I’ve got… Well, you know what color my blood is.” Dave glanced away, running a hand through his hair. “... You really didn't know?”

“I mean, I know you’ve always been really cagey about your blood, but I always thought that was cause it made you sick to look at or something.” Well, that was true too, but Karkat wasn't about to mention that. Wasn’t really the time for that - or was it, they were both spilling huge shit on each other like dump-buckets and neither of them seemed concerned for once. “Fuck, Karkles, why didn't you-”

“Because it's not a big deal.” Dave glanced back at Karkat. He knew Karkat; if this was bothering him, he would try to avoid it, say it's not a problem, because to him, everyone else's problems were way more important. But that look in his eyes… “It really isn't anymore,” he said, a soft hint of surprise in his voice. 

He was being genuine. 

 

“So what changed?”

Karkat smiled. Actually smiled. Not a pity smile or a ‘I'd rip you to shreds if the situation allowed for it’ smile. It was just a happy smile. “Is it cliche to say you?” 

 

Oh god.

 

Dave grinned widely. 

“It is hella cliche.”

Karkat started to laugh. “Ugh, it's so fucking cliche!” Dave just watched him and enjoyed the laughter, watching Karkat’s shoulders shake as he laughed. He’d never seen Karkat act like this. _I need to fuck him more often if this is the result._ He found he liked the thought. Karkat eventually calmed down, resting his hands on the covers. “I… Thanks for last night.”

Dave raised a brow. “Was it good for you too?” He drawled, smirking.

Karkat snickered, throwing a pillow at him. “Shut the hell up!” Dave got a face full of fluff, laughter muffled by the pillow. “I meant like… It's hard to explain.”

“I know what you mean.” Dave shifted the pillow back into place, smiling and getting up. He glanced once at his god tier robes before going to grab one of his old shirts. Karkat raised a brow questioningly and Dave shrugged. “Change of pace.”

Karkat looked mildly surprised as Dave got dressed (why was his dick still out? Weird, did humans things not go away?). He watched curiously as he thought about what Dave had said. “... Maybe that's what last night was.”

“Hmm?”

“A change of pace.”

Dave smirked. “Yeah, we full on sprinted to home plate.” Karkat tilted his head. “Baseball, dude. Wait, shit, trolls don't have baseball. Karkles, me, you, and everyone else on this meteor gotta play baseball at some point.”

“Obscure human references aside,” Karkat grumbled, “I enjoyed last night for more than just, uh… Home plate?”

Dave slipped on his pants, sitting next to Karkat afterwards. “I did too. I just, uh… I’m not 100 percent sure what else happened. But… We’re different today, I know.”

“Yeah. We are.” Karkat glanced away from Dave, thinking. He had really hated Dave for awhile last night. He’d wanted to… Ugh, no point in avoiding thinking about it; he’d wanted to fuck him senseless and make him scream for mercy like the fucking asshole he was, to put him in his place. But that… That wasn't exactly what had happened.

 

Karkat liked this ending better.

 

“I think… I think we were pitch last night. And that, when we had sex together, we managed to relieve a lot of the tension that was building up between us, and somehow we ended up… here.” Where was here? God damn it, what _were_ they?! 

Did it even matter at this point?

Dave glanced at Karkat, blushing softly. “I… I’m sorry.”

What? Was he sorry about what happened? About last night? Did he regret this? “What do you-”

“Had I not pushed you, had I just stopped and listened to you instead of being a dick about your nightmare… I should have just listened, but instead, I overreacted. Like I always do,” he muttered as a side note, his hand falling beside him on the bed. 

“No, no, don't talk like that. I really enjoyed last night - every part of it.” Dave smirked. “Oh shut up.” Karkat licked his lips, looking down. “I’m sorry too.”

“Karkles, c’mon, don't-”

“Lemmie finish.” Dave bit back a joke about finishing, managing to refrain. “I… I should have told you about the nightmare to begin with. You’re right, I’ve gotta stop holding all this in, or else we might end up doing something worse than fucking each other out of spite.” Karkat sighed, letting his hand rest beside him.

Their hands brushed against each other. Both of them jumped, looking toward the other. Their hands came to rest together. They were both blushing.

Why were they so embarrassed? They had just slept together for pete’s sake, they had held hands before! So… What was the difference now?

Karkat bit the inside of his cheek, cursing his blush silently. “Dave?”

“Y-Yeah?” Dave cursed his stuttering less silently under his breath. Karkat felt an odd hiccup in his blood pusher when that happened.

“I… What are we?”

Dave sought out his eyes. He smiled, genuinely smiled, eyes without their hard edge. “I… I meant what I said last night. Isn't… Isn't together enough of an answer?”

Dave felt Karkat squeeze his hand. He squeezed back.

Karkat licked his lips.

 

Years. Sweeps. 16 years. Almost 7 and a half Sweeps. 1001 relationships that told him, taught him, how this was supposed to happen. Pitch. Ash. Pale. Flush. Black, grey, white, red. He was broken, he wasn’t doing it the right way - none of this was right, how could this be right when absolutely everything he’d been raised on taught him differently? There were lines, borders between those quadrants, they weren’t supposed to cross. There were lines between that love that Karkat knew had to be there for a reason, right?

That word stuck out to him.

Love.

It made his heart pound harder, his heart beat faster, his heart just ache for… for Dave.

 

Love.

 

What even was love?

 

Easy.

 

Love is love.

 

“... Yeah.” Dave’s eyebrows raised just slightly. “It is.”

Karkat leaned in quickly, before he could regret it. Dave breathed in sharply through his nose as Karkat kissed him, before he leaned into the kiss, smiling. His spare hand went to the back of Karkat’s head, holding him closer, holding the kiss together. Karkat’s other hand went to Dave’s chest, needing to feel his beating heart. Needing to know just… just how alive they both were. Needing to feel that beating, pounding heartbeat and know how…

How right this was.

Despite it all, this was _right_.

 

He pulled away a second later, a question in his eyes. “I… I’m not quite ready to go out there yet. Can we-”

“Definitely.” Dave held him close, lying back down. Karkat shut his eyes, feeling the steady breathing of… Of his… “We’re boyfriends,” Dave muttered, reading Karkat’s mind. He sounded so surprised himself.

“I guess we are.” 

 

They were still holding hands.

 

They both cuddled, smiling. They talked about anything that came to their minds. Nothing too serious - there would be time for that later. A time for tears and questions and doubts. But right now wasn't that time. Right now was the time to relish, live, enjoy. To just feel right. To be together.

Both of them were starting to realize, they wouldn't have it any other way.

 

**End of Act 1**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S THE END!  
> Come party at misssugarpinkshome.tumblr.com or at davetellhimaboutthequadrants.tumblr.com!


	17. Intermission One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aren't these supposed to be posted halfway between the Pauses?...

Her eyes started to focus as she picked up another pencil, one she hadn't broken yet, and scratched another tally mark idly into the table. The little squeaky sound against the wood made her ears twitch. She was used to that. Slowly she began to count them up, praying that this time around she wouldn’t have to recount - or maybe recounting would be a blessing, because it would take more time up. She was used to that too.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, she didn’t have to recount. She did some fast mental math. 708 tally marks. 1 year, 11 months, and about 8 days into that last month. Almost 2 years into the 3 year journey. 

Jade Harley felt no relief.

She sighed, trying to focus on the slice of cake before her. Nanasprite kept making her more and more of them, but she was honestly starting to lose her taste for confectionaries.

Would John have been happy to hear that, or sad?

Haha.

 

John.

 

Jade rubbed her eyes under her glasses, sighing. “I’m so tired,” she mumbled to no one in particular. Her consorts/companions all avoided her when she got like this. She was well and truly alone right now. 

She frowned firmly. “Stop that,” she said to herself. “You can’t think like that, Jade! That’s just going to get you in an even worse mood.” She took a deep breath, thinking a bit clearer.

 

She really wasn’t alone. Not forever, anyways. Almost two of her three years had finally gone by. She would be able to see her friends soon. She would be able to really meet the trolls now, some of which she was actually starting to regard fondly. And, sure… She would have to break the news to them, what… what happened. But they would be there to comfort her, and vice versa.

And then… then they could build a new universe! A whole new world for trolls and humans alike. They all could live together in harmony.

It’s what he would have wanted.

 

Jade began to think even clearer, thinking ahead. What would living be like, once this game was over? Would she still have her God Tier powers? Her dog ears? Would she ever get to be just… normal?

Ha.

When had anything about her ever been ‘normal’?

 

She yawned, her eyes starting to shut again. She was really tired… no one was going to miss her if she just slept a bit longer anyways. She slowly rested her head next to the cake slice, closing her eyes.

She saw blue in her dreams. 

 

Blue skies.

 

Blue pajamas.

 

And a silly, buck-toothed brother.

 

It was a nice dream.

 

*~*~*~

 

Rose rolled her wrist in her hands, watching Kanaya read. She’d written a lot and, understandably, she had overworked her wrist. But, it seemed to be worth it.

Kanaya pursed her lips lightly as she read, a small smile on her face. She reached up and gently brushed her hair out of her eyes. Every so often, a soft little giggle would escape her jade lips. Rose watched her fondly. “What do you think?” she asked softly, as to not disturb her matesprit.

“I think it is very good, Rose. You understand a lot of this very well!” She closed the makeshift book with a soft smile. “What caused this interest in the quadrants?”

“And here I thought the answer to that was obvious.”

Kanaya rolled her eyes softly, a trick she was learning from Rose. “I was allowing you a chance to answer, actually.” 

Rose giggled, easing herself into the spot next to Kanaya. “Well then, should I respond?”

“That _would_ seem to be the correct course of action.”

Rose nodded softly, resting her head on Kanaya’s shoulder. “Well then, the answer would be my brother’s horrendous relationship with one Karkat Vantas.”

“I'm very glad about that.” Rose eyed her curiously. “If he were dating two Karkat Vantas’s at one time, I would have been concerned.”

Rose couldn't hold back a laugh at that comment, smiling brightly. Kanaya watched her laugh with a knowing smile. 

Rose’s eyes crinkled up ever so slightly when she laughed, Kanaya noted. Her arm automatically crossed her stomach in a well practiced movement. Her eyes opened wide and Kanaya found herself lost in those odd colored eyes (the eyes she knew the secret of, that adorable secret that made her bloodpusher pump a little harder and make her want to giggle). 

Rose slowly slowed to a giggle, watching Kanaya. “You look lost again, little rainbow drinker. What's wrong?”

“N-Nothing is wrong,” she quickly stuttered out. No, nothing was wrong with this picture. “Honestly. I am just…” She breathed. “I am just feeling, for lack of a better term.”

“Hmm.”

 

They both fell into a mutual silence. They both breathed in and out at their own paces, a fact that neither of them would have noticed had it not been their urge to memorize each and every moment. Kanaya looked at the book in her hands, feeling… odd.

“Rose?”

“Yes, Kanaya?”

“You repeatedly referred to me as your matesprit in this explanation of the quadrants.”

“Is there something wrong with that?”

“No.”

“... But.”

“Indeed.”

 

Another silence grew between them, a little less comfortable than the last. Rose shifted softly, her robes making very little noise as she did, as though attempting to hold the now tense peace in the room. She watched Kanaya uneasily. “What comes after that?”

“That… is entirely my question.” Kanaya closed her eyes. “What happens after this? After the battle, what will become of us?”

Rose sought out her matesprit’s hand, delighting slightly in the little squeeze she received for the action. “After this, we’ll be at peace. Together. No more wars, no more ghosts, no more Tiers. Just me and you.” 

Kanaya sighed.

“And what if we cannot be together?”

 

Rose’s eyes widened.

 

“What if… What if I do not survive this battle?” Kanaya opened her eyes, suddenly feeling almost tearful. Her spare hand went to Rose’s cheek. “What if… God forbid, what if you do not survive? How can I live without…”

The silence came back. That silence that grew every time they grew close to saying something akin to those 3 terrifying little words. Rose licked her lips. 

“We just have to have hope.”

 

They cuddled, the air between them starting to clear. The doubts had been raised, but in the end, there really is no way to address them. Kanaya gently stroked Rose’s hand with her thumb, soothing the human girl. They sat and memorized this moment, for there might not be many more moments to memorize in almost a year’s time.

One year left.

 

Silently, Rose reviewed her resolution once again. The thought had risen to her mind already of what could happen. Of who might die in this final battle. Of her matesprit, her one and only, dying in battle. She reviewed her plan once again, finding bleak, morbid comfort in the thought.

Kanaya would not be alone in death if she died first. Rose would be joining her swiftly if the worst happened.

 

She would have it no other way.

 

*~*~*~

 

Terezi sniffed the air, licking her lips a moment later. There was cherry in the air, she realized. Like a very sweet, candied cherry flavor to the air, almost a bit creamy. A delighted smirk grew across her face. “Finally.”

“Terezi, over here!” She moved to the edge of the maze-like platform and sniffed. Yep - Vriska stood there, a grin on her face and a treasure at her feet. She held up her hand with a thumbs up before jumping down to join the cerulean blood. 

She landed perfectly, as always. Vriska nodded and nudged the chest with her shoe. “Did you want to do the honors, _Redglare_?”

“Oh no,” Terezi said with a slight grin, “after you, _Marquise_.” 

Vriska rolled her eyes, but maintained an amused look as she kneeled down, grabbing the top of the chest before flinging it up. 

“... That's it?” Vriska's face fell into a scowl as she crossed her arms and analyzed the contents of the chest. “Why would he think these are valuable enough to put in a chest?”

“They smell like Gamzee’s,” Terezi muttered, nose scrunched up in disgust. It wasn't the best smell in the world.

Vriska laughed a little, a small grin taking the place of the scowl. "They aren't even made well! They don't look _anything_ like the actual outfit.” Terezi smirked, giggling along. Vriska sighed, turning on her heels and shrugging. “Oh well. That was a lost cause. Come on, we’re heading down further.” Without another word, Vriska began to walk down the hallway.

Terezi closed the chest and began to follow, only to stop short.

She began to sniff around. Above her was a vent. A frown came across her face. She thought she had heard…

“Terezi, we don't have all day! I mean. We do, but hurry up!" 

She jumped as Vriska called for her. “Hold your horses,” she shouted back, running to catch up. 

 

It couldn't have been Gamzee, she promptly decided. For one thing, he didn't follow her around anymore - not with Vriska there. For another, she would’ve heard his bell. So, definitely couldn't have been Gamzee.

She was just hearing things.

 

She caught up to Vriska and together, they kept spelunking.

 

 

“... honk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One day more.


	18. Boyfriends: Commence Fluffy Pillow Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is how it works, right? You sleep together and then you talk about things that are important, like marks on arms and nicknames?

“... We should get up.”

A soft sigh. “Yeah.”

Neither of them moved.

 

The bed was too comfortable to get out of, they told themselves. The blankets were soft. They were already dressed, so they didn't need to get up and do that. They had a million possible excuses if they felt like using them - but there was only one reason they were still like this.

They didn't want to let go.

 

“... You didn't answer me last night, y’know.”

“Mm?”

“The marks on your arms.” Karkat hummed softly as Dave’s hand shifted to scratch his head. God, could he ask Dave to mess with his hair all the time, or would that make him lose any shreds of dignity he had left after his mewling last night? He purred softly, shutting his eyes and just not caring about it anymore, at least for today. “What’re they?”

“They’re _really_ not important.” 

Ugh, _Dave_. “Thought we were gonna be honest with each other.” 

He groaned. God, he hated telling the truth that much? “Alright, it's uh… Yeah, y’know how I mentioned how bright the lights get sometimes?”

“Yeah?”

“Those are tallies for every time I’ve had to put on my shades these past 2 weeks.”

Karkat’s ear twitched slightly. “Huh.”

Dave raised a brow. His hand paused slightly in Karkat’s hair. “... You’re not freaking out?”

“Why does everyone assume I’m going to do that?” Karkat shifted around to face Dave, frowning softly. They were close to each other, looking each other in the eyes. Normally that made Dave uncomfortable, made him feel weird inside, but now… He never wanted this contact, connection between them to end. “I mean, you probably shouldn’t put marker on your skin, that stuff is like absorbed by humans, you all are so weird.”

“Wait, it’s not absorbed into troll skin?”

“No, it washes off, you moron. Besides, we’re not idiots, we don’t fucking _write_ on ourselves. Why would we?” Dave didn’t have a good answer for that. Karkat sighed and smiled. “You could've just worn your shades, y’know.”

“I know, just… I didn't want you to think something was wrong.” 

“You’re an idiot.” Should he kiss him? Yeah, this felt like a kissing moment. He kissed Dave softly, really liking the sensation of his surprise, and especially loving when Dave kissed back. He pulled back softly, scowling good-naturally. “If you’re in pain, something _is_ wrong.” 

Dave blushed a bit, grinning nervously. “Ha. That's new.”

“The kissing, or me giving a shit?”

“Nah, you always gave a shit. The kissing and like…” He chuckled, shrugging. “Whatever. Can't think of the words.” 

Karkat let it slide. Patience, right? He shut his eyes, leaning into Dave a bit. God, had this always been so comfortable? Dave moved his hand again to play with Karkat’s hair, eliciting another bout of purring. “Y’know, Karkles, you’re super warm. I could use you for a blanket.”

He scrunched up his nose softly. “I'd rather not.” 

“Nah, c’mon - wait, no, better yet. You’ll be my body pillow.” 

Karkat groaned, nuzzling his head into Dave’s chest. “Dave. Please, for the love of all that is holy, shut up.”

“Nope, we’re in the shit now, Kitkat. You and me, long haul.” He laughed, something Karkat could feel as he was against Dave’s chest. It was a pretty good feeling too. “We’re gonna fucking rock this meteor, Kitkat.”

“Thought I said to stop calling me that.”

“Do you actually want me to? Or are you just too embarrassed to say how cute you think it is? Cause, gotta be honest, it's the cutest goddamn nickname I’ve ever heard of.”

Karkat shifted slightly so he could look up at Dave. “And what if I gave you an embarrassing nickname?”

“Dude, Dave doesn't shorten to anything.”

“A nickname doesn't have to shorten. After all, Kitkat has the same level of letters as Karkat.”

“... Touché.”

“So in theory, I could call you something like… I don't know…” He was thinking. What could he call Dave… “I… I’ll think of something,” he eventually said. 

“Heh. I bet nothing you could say will be more embarrassing than what I can come up with.”

“Ha! You’re on, Strider.”

“Technically, you’re on Strider right now.”

“Oh, shut up.”

For once, Dave did. And, for once, the silence between them was welcome. It was a comfortable silence, one where Dave didn't feel that odd creeping fear and Karkat didn't feel that weird sense of emptiness. It was just… quiet. 

 

Content.

 

Finally, Karkat sighed softly with a soft scowl. “We should probably get up. The others will probably be wondering where the hell we are.”

“We _could_ just let them wonder, y’know. Nothin’ saying we can't just stay here all day and relax.”

“No, we can't. I’m actually getting a bit hungry anyways,” Karkat admitted, shifting to sit up. Dave watched him as he stood, stretching. He had to admit, he enjoyed the view. Karkat glanced back at him. “Come on, bulgefuck, we really do need to get out of here.”

“Alright, alright.”

“Can I turn on the light now?”

Dave shrugged. “Go ahead.” He shut his eyes as Karkat looked around. Where the fuck was the light switch?

Oh. That's right.

He clapped twice, shaking his head as the lights flashed on. Fucking clappers… Dave opened his eyes slowly, blinking a few times. “All good?”

“Yeah, just gettin’ my eyes used to the light again.”

“Again, you can always wear your shades. Don't suffer just on account of thinking you can't.”

“I know, I know.” He grinned, grabbing his shades and hooking them onto his shirt. He glanced at himself in the mirror.

He looked different. He hadn't really noticed when he wore his god tier robes. But now, wearing his old scratched record shirt and jeans? He was definitely taller, and the shirt seemed to fit him now (it had always been too big on him before). He squinted - was that stubble on his chin? Fuck, he would have to learn how to shave soon. Weird. He tilted his head this way and that. “Karkles, how do you feel about beards?”

“Ew.”

Welp. Yep, shaving would be happening then. Not today, though, he wanted to spend time with Karkat. Speaking of… He looked over to see Karkat watching him, an odd little smile on his face. “What’s wrong? Can’t handle my godly presence?”

“As if. You’ve got bed head, moron.”

“What can I say? I woke up like this.” Dave ran a hand through his hair, tussling it up a bit. Karkat’s grin widened. In truth, he couldn’t seem to stop looking at Dave’s eyes. These past few days (weeks? He’d lost track already) he hadn’t been able to look him in the eyes. But now, god, he wanted to make up for lost time.

Oh god, fuck, he was being really cliche. “C’mon, let’s go see who all is awake already. Maybe we can watch a movie or something.”

“Netflix and chill?”

“What?”

Dave chuckled, walking over to Karkat. “Nothin’. Just fuckin’ with you.” He leaned down ever so slightly, kissing Karkat gingerly. The troll hummed his approval. “What’re we gonna tell the others?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean, we can’t just walk out there, hand in hand, saying ‘holy fuck, I’m exhausted after fucking you senseless last night’.” Karkat blushed, the tips of his ears twinging red. Dave chuckled - goal achieved. “Anyways, what do we say?”

“Are we, uh… dating?”

Dave shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets. “What do you want?”

“You.” His blush got worse from the instinctual response. “I mean, well, to say I’m dating you.” His eyes narrowed as Dave smirked. “Wipe that stupid smile off your fucking face, Dave.” He sighed, glancing toward the door. “I… I guess we just say we’re dating, and answer any questions that come our way?”

“I guess.” Dave tilted his head slightly - Karkles still looked ridiculously tense. He sighed, smiling softly and pulling a hand out of his pocket to grab Karkat’s. He jumped from the contact, but turned back curiously. “C’mon, Kitkat. We’ll go on out there together.”

Karkat took a deep breath, nodding. He squeezed Dave’s hand softly. Why was he so nervous about this? It wasn’t like they’d been beating around the bush any with their constant flirting this entire time, but… Oh, gosh, all of this was so new. So weird. He wasn’t in any one quadrant, he wasn’t really sharing Dave with anyone… How would his friends take this?

But when Dave looked at him with that stupid smile… 

Did he really care anymore?

 

… No. He really didn’t.

And holy Jegus.

That scared the living _shit_ out of him.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

They walked out together, holding hands, right into the living room. Both of them stopped almost immediately, hands dropping to their sides, shock evident on their faces.

 

‘SURPRISE, YOU’RE GAY.’

Kanaya was holding the cake with Rose drinking something out of a mug nearby. Terezi had strung up a banner with the same words (or at least what were probably the same words, if Dave was translating the blind-girl painted banner right). Vriska was nearby, looking over some old book with vague curiosity. She was the one to look up. “The two lovebirds finally woke up,” she said, shutting the book in a somewhat dramatic way.

Kanaya jumped slightly, smiling brightly and standing. “Ah! Here you are. We have prepared a cake for this occasion!”

“Told you so,” Rose muttered, sipping from her mug.

“It’s red, isn’t it,” Terezi said with a knowing smirk, winking in Karkat’s direction. He blushed (oh god, was he a blusher now, fuck). 

 

Dave glanced from Karkat to the banner to Rose. “Uh… Actually, I’m pan. Ha.”

 

“...”

Kanaya looked at the cake with a small frown.

“... My cake is inaccurate.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. Here we are. Act 2 of this fanfiction. This is being posted at 2 in the morning on a (technically) Wednesday. Know why?
> 
> This is being posted on the first anniversary of this fanfiction's creation. One year ago, Sept. 28, 2015, I had the idea to post some stupid DaveKat smut on Archive. "Why not?" I asked myself. I had planned for this fanfiction to be at most 3 chapters long, with Dave and Karkat sleeping with each other almost immediately. Instead, you all are reading this (currently) ~132 page, 18 chapter fanfiction, complete with tumblr, deleted scenes, and playlist. And I just have to say thank you so much. I never would have kept going if it weren't for the comments and viewcount constantly goading me on. I hope you all continue to enjoy this sprawling mess I've made, something that I play to take up 5 full Acts, as well as a possible epilogue in the works. 
> 
> Thank you.  
> \- Miss Sugar-Pink


	19. Everyone: Enjoy Some Cake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone enjoys cake.

“What do you mean, you’re pan?”

Dave shrugged, crossing his arms. “I mean I’m Pansexual. Y’know, like the trolls?”

Rose frowned, setting her mug down and standing. “So this entire time, you have been surrounded by people who go against heteronormativity just as much as you do, and yet you were so ingrained in your own upbringing that you could not admit that fact?”

Dave stared her down. “... English, Lalonde.”

“You know what I said, Dave,” she said with a knowing smile. 

“I choose not to answer.” He picked up the cake, bringing it over to the table. “Who wants cake for breakfast?”

“It is actually lunchtime.”

“Cake for brunch then!” He looked at Karkat. “You’re getting a piece, Karkles.”

“What? No, I don’t want any sweet-” Dave was already handing him a piece. He sighed, accepting the plate with a roll of his eyes. Terezi hopped off of her chair, giggling. “What are you laughing about,” he grumbled, getting a fork.

“It’s cherry red icing,” she said after a long, happy sniff.

Karkat groaned, massaging his temples. “I need to go sit down.” He did, sitting on the couch with a sigh. This was _not_ the reaction he expected. 

Whatever. At least there was cake.

 

Dave smirked, handing Rose a slice of cake. “Happy I finally admitted it?”

“While it wasn’t the answer I imagined, it is still an answer that you managed to admit to yourself. So, yes, I am happy.” She took the piece with a smile, eyeing him. “Did you two have fun?”

“You know it.” He grinned. “I didn’t think it would happen that way, but y’know, I don’t really mind?”

She poked at the cake with her fork, the hints of a blush taking to her cheeks. “So… you two…?”

Dave paused, glancing at her. “... Lalonde, are you actually _embarrassed_?” He laughed, leaning against the table. “Never would’ve guessed that. You’re always full of fucking surprises, aren’t you?”

“Oh, hush, Dave. Just because you’ve made some far strides in the concupiscent quadrants-”

“The _what_ quadrants?”

“Concupiscent. If you’d like, I can give you the book I’ve begun writing on the topic. You might learn something important.” She speared a piece of cake on her fork, eating it to hide her smile. It was unsuccessful. 

Dave got a piece for himself, stepping aside to let Kanaya get hers. “No thanks, I’ll leave the reading to Karkles. I’ve seen the effects of your poison on these poor innocent minds. Keep your BDSM bullshit away from me.” 

“‘Even if he’s into that bondage shit’, as you said?”

“Shhh, fuck, let's just announce it to the fucking Horrorterrors why don't we?” Dave glanced around; Kanaya seemed to be the only one who noticed, judging from the small, poorly hidden smirk on her face. Dave supposed that by now, Rose had already shared that little cigar-fucker slip. “Keep your voice down, Rose.”

“Why, Strider, are you actually embarrassed?” Dave glared at her. She just smiled innocently. Dave angrily got a fork and aggressively ate some cake, much to Rose’s delight. 

 

While this little scene went on, Kanaya sidled over towards where Karkat sat. He watched her as she slowly made her way towards him. Finally, when she got close enough to the couch that he could practically smell the meddling senses tingling, he sighed. “Yes, Kanaya?”

She smiled. “Would you like some company on your couch?”

“Sure.”

Kanaya sat, cake in hand. She was watching him; as much as he tried to ignore her eyes, he could feel them on him. He shuddered and sighed. “What do you want Kanaya?”

She looked shocked - Rose was a bad influence. “I simply wanted to inquire into the manner of relationship you and Dave.”

Karkat blushed. God, she always did this. She always meddled. And that wasn't a bad thing, it was just… “We, er… don't know.”

Kanaya paused. “... Oh.” Her eyes turned sympathetic.

“Oh, don't fucking pity me, Maryam,” he muttered, his heart not really in the cursing. “Me and Dave have decided that we’re just… dating. Outside the quadrants.”

Kanaya looked at her cake. Karkat didn't interrupt. He knew Kanaya needed the time to think. Soon, she frowned, just softly. “It will be difficult.”

“No shit.”

She turned to him once more, still frowning. “And last night-”

“I’m sure you heard,” he said even quieter, a feat for him. His ears were tinted pink at the tips. 

Kanaya giggled shortly, her cheeks tinting slightly as well. “Oh, we, er, did. Just a bit.” 

Vriska stood abruptly, sighing. She made he way to the door, turning back to the group. “Well, this has been a _blast_. Congrats, Karkat, Dave, on the sex that kept us all up all night long. I think I’ll just go track down the resident murderous juggalo and find where he’s been hiding. Later!” She flipped her hair over her shoulder as she walked out. 

 

Karkat sighed, rubbing his face. Vriska’s dramatic flair was almost as exhausting as last night. He peeked at Kanaya through his fingers. “Any comments?”

Kanaya shrugged. “I believe you have had enough time to stew on the topic.” She looked to the side, frowning, in thought. “Though I do wonder just where in the quadrants the two of you-”

“Kismessitude,” Karkat quickly said. He didn't want Kanaya to finish that sentence. “We were definitely pitch last night.” 

“Hmm.” She sighed softly, frowning.

“What's wrong?”

“I owe Rose 10 Boonbucks.” 

 

Karkat looked at her in amazement before a small smile took to his face. “She’s such a bad influence on you.”

“And I’m not, Kitkat?” His smile dropped to an all too familiar scowl as Dave walked up, half eaten cake still on plate. He spoke through a mouthful. Apparently this asshole never learned manners. “Guess I’m not tryin’ hard enough.” 

“No, you are, brother of mine. You just can't beat me with your simple ironic tendencies.” Rose sat next to Kanaya, instantly curling up against the troll’s chest. Kanaya did not seem uncomfortable with the position. Rose glanced up and gave her a soft peck on her cheek. “Who won?”

Kanaya sighed, pouting. “You did.”

Rose smirked, glancing Karkat’s way. He ate more of his cake to drown out the slight embarrassment. Dave glanced between the three, slowly taking another bite of cake. “Frankly, I’m scared t’ask.”

Karkat raised a brow at Dave. “What’s that weird thing you’re doing?”

“What?”

“Your voice sounds weird.”

Dave snorted. “No it doesn’t.”

“Does.” Karkat glanced at his plate, scooping up the last of the crumbs. His nose scrunched up. He wasn’t planning on getting cake today to start out, but at this point… Fuck it. He stood to get more. 

“My voice is normal, Kitkat. Not a thing is different.”

“I swear, it sounds weird.”

“I must agree,” Kanaya said. “You have a slight accent.”

“Nope. I don’t.” Karkat glanced at him and smirked. Oh, now that made him blush? Something to remember. “No accent whatsoever, ‘t’s not a thing-”

“There it is agai-”

“Oh goodness, it’s because you were from Texas, Dave.” Rose giggled. “Just get used to your accent showing, especially now that you’re getting more comfortable.” 

Dave rolled his eyes, going and setting his plate in the sink. “You can stuff it, Lalonde.”

“In what?”

“Kanaya’s sittin’ right there.” Rose snorted and Kanaya got a fresh blush. Karkat just shook his head, getting another slice of cake. “S’not like you two can’t just waltz off to your room and suck face or various other parts of bodies.”

“Too true. But we do have _some_ manner of decency.”

“Oh, and I don’t?”

Karkat laughed at that one. “Dave, don’t even try to pretend that you do. You really don’t get to say anything after last night.”

“Last night? Hmm, between ‘Coward’ or ‘Finally’?” Karkat blushed, very choice memories from last night resurfacing. “Haha, I win.”

“Speaking of winning,” Kanaya said, “I am relieved that bet of yours is finally to an end.”

 

Both Dave and Karkat turned to her, blank faced. “... What?”

Kanaya and Rose both smiled, bewildered. “You mean you haven’t figured this out yet?”

“What do you mean, Rose?”

“I mean, Karkat, that the bet is over.”

Karkat looked at Dave. The bet… “Shit,” he muttered. “Who the fuck won?”

They paused.

“I did,” they said in unison.

 

Rose giggled. “Technically, I suppose you’re both right.” She shifted to a more upright position, clearing her throat. “On one hand, Karkat found out that you two were in one of the trollian quadrants. He actually found that out four times, if I’m not mistaken.” Dave raised a brow and looked at the increasingly embarrassed Karkat. Just because he hasn’t said anything _explicitly_ didn’t mean he hadn’t noticed the quadrants they’d ran through over this time. 

“But, on the other hand,” Rose continued, glancing toward Dave, “Karkat still doesn’t know what quadrant you two are in and has determined that, at the moment, you aren’t in any quadrant. Now, unless that changes-”

“It won’t,” Dave quickly added. It was Karkat’s turn to be surprised. The fuck? Who said…

Oh who was he kidding, they didn’t have that much longer on this meteor anyways. If he had already fucked this man and still didn’t know, he probably wouldn’t until after the journey.

“Then, by all rights, Dave won too.”

 

Karkat licked his lips. Dave ran a hand through his hair. 

“Well,” was all Karkat could say.

“Shit.” Dave thought that summed it up pretty well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter took so long, you guys! I really struggle with Vriska's parts and Act 2 will have a lot more Vriska in it. Beyond that, I also have Midterms coming up, plus a lot of mental health stuff that kinda spiked recently. I'll be trying to stick to my schedule, and I ask forgiveness if I miss any dates! I know this chapter is a bit lackluster, but I hope you enjoy either way! Feel free to join me at davetellhimaboutthequadrants.tumblr.com and chat if you'd like!


	20. Karkat: Cheat On Dave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsk tsk, cheating is bad, Karkat.

It took entirely too long to sort out what would happen. By all logic, since they both won the bet, then neither of them should be a slave. That would be no fun. So they would both have to be slaves, but there would be absolutely no fun if they were both a slave for the same day. Karkat had proceeded to pull out a calendar to schedule what would happen - Dave had to put a stop to that immediately, before he started scheduling sex too.

But then they ran into the problem of who was a slave first. “Obviously, since I figured out we were in a quadrant first, I get to make you my slave first.”

“Aww, what?” Dave crossed his arms, glaring at Karkat as they sat at the “debating” (aka random ass) table. “Dude, that's not fair at all.”

“What? Why not?”

“‘Cause you never knew which one we were in! You just knew we were in one, but it kept vacillating!” Holy shit, he used his vocabulary. “I should get it more than you cause I figured out we weren't in any quadrant before we even made the bet.”

“Dave, that's not how it works.”

“Why the fuck not?”

Cause then he would get to go first and that would suck. Karkat blushed. “Well, I mean, that was _before_ the bet. Doesn't count.”

“Oh, bullshit, you’re just not ready to do anything I make you do.”

“That's not the point! The point is that since it was decided before the bet, that can't be part of settling the bet.”

“Alright, how's this; the INSTANT after I shook your hand, I still knew we weren't in any of your bullshit quadrants.”

Fuck, he had a point. Karkat shook his head. “Well, I say it doesn't count.” He sighed. “Isn't there an easy way to sort this out?” 

He’d meant the question to be rhetorical. Dave began to straighten in his seat, a smile growing. Oh no. Dave’s eyes narrowed very slightly with glee. “Oh, there _is_.”

“Dave, don't you dare fucking say-”

“Tiebreaker!”

Karkat groaned, head slamming into the table. “Not again…”

 

*~*~*~

 

It took him long enough to figure out the tiebreaker. Dave instantly mentioned something called a “Penis Game” and started talking about going to public places and doing something with penises. Karkat shut _that_ down immediately. Then Dave had an idea and ran off to the alchemitzer without a word. Karkat sighed and just waited for him.

Sure enough, he returned with… something in his hands. It looked like… something. What the hell was it? “What the hell is this?”

“It's called pocky.” 

“What the fuck is a pocky?”

Dave pulled a small stick looking thing out of the box. “See, it's this candy stuff from Earth that couples eat and shit.”

“Why don't I trust your information about Eath eating customs?” 

“Shut up, I still know more than you do.” He licked his lips, grinning. “So, this tiebreaker goes like this: you put one end of the pocky in your mouth. I put the other end in my mouth. We get closer and closer until our lips are touching. First person to move away loses.”

“Wait - so we keep going until we kiss, and then whoever flinches away from a kiss is first slave?”

“That’s right.”

Karkat looked him dead in the eyes. Dave… didn’t seem to see a problem in the game. Karkat sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Dave.”

“Yeah?”

“You _do_ realize we just _slept_ together, right?”

“Haha, yeah, that rocked.”

Another sigh, more akin to a groan this time around. Karkat opened his eyes again, glaring at the moron before him. “Dave. _Why_ would I flinch away from kissing you? We did that like 5 times last night.”

“Well… yeah, but like. That’s the game.”

Karkat shook his head. “Let’s just get this over with.”

 

Needless to say, the game was a complete and utter failure. For one thing, Dave had alchemitized some shitty ass pocky - seriously, Karkat had no idea that candy could taste so weird. He was not a fan. For another thing, Dave seemed to not realize when they started making out that both of them would literally choke on the pocky at the same exact time.

“BLUH!” Dave flinched back just as Karkat did, both of them coughing. The pocky broke in their mouths, forcing them both to swallow the crumbly, shitty sticks. “Ugh, motherfuck, okay, the creators of this fucking game obviously have no _fucking_ clue what pocky actually tastes like!”

“N-No shit, Strider,” Karkat said, still coughing. Fuck, that’d hurt.

“Fuck off, Vantas.” Karkat cleared his throat, gradually getting his breath back. Dave crossed his arms, scowling. They took each other in for a moment. “... Soooo… who do you think won?”

“STRIDER.”

“It's an innocent question!”

“Strider.”

“Yeah, that _is_ my name.”

Karkat rubbed his face with his hand, taking a deep breath. “Okay. What _other_ bright ideas do you have?”

 

*~*~*~

 

“Okay, this is sure to be the best thing fucking ever. Like, seriously, the best shit that has ever fucking happened. Like this deserves a Reddit page, Karkles.”

“What the fuck is a Reddit?”

Dave sighed, shaking his head. “Sad, sad troll culture. You don't even know what a Reddit is.” 

Karkat sighed and sat. “So, what’s this one?”

“It's called the Nervous Game.” Are these all actual games? What the hell did humans do in their free time? “Basically,” Dave said as he sat next to Karkat, “I’m gonna run my hand up your leg, closer and closer to your crotch. And you'll tell me when you get nervous. Whoever gets nervous faster loses.”

He rose a brow. “... Okay?” Karkat grinned. “So you’re gonna go first?”

“Yep. You ready?”

Karkat uncrossed his legs (how did he do that, Dave wondered, didn't that hurt?) and nodded confidently, a know-it-all smirk on his face. “Go right ahead.” 

Dave grinned. Oh, now _this_ would be good. He put his hand just above Karkat’s knee, keeping his eyes locked with the troll’s. His hand slowly began to creep up Karkat’s leg. And… slowly kept going.

And going.

“Just tell me when you get ne-”

“I know.” There was the hint of a laugh in Karkat’s voice. Dave raised a brow. Something was wrong here and he wasn't sure what…

He kept going. His hand reached Karkat’s thigh, sliding slowly towards the innermost crease on his pants. His fingers tingled softly against the fabric. His brows furrowed as he watched Karkat’s calm face.

He got closer, slower. He frowned. He had to end this somehow… he grinned. 

His hand jumped up fast, reaching straight for Karkat’s crotch, grabbing-

 

Nothing?

Karkat burst out laughing. “Did you seriously forget that my bulge retracts?” 

“... Oh.”

Karkat smirked, grinding slightly against Dave’s hand, just leaning closer. Dave blushed, keeping his hand there. Karkat leaned fully into his hand. Dave realized Karkat was blushing a bit too. Was that his overbite, or was he just nibbling his lip? 

It was at this moment that Dave remembered that while Karkat’s bulge might retract, his nook was still there.

Oh.

“Is it my turn? Or should we move on to the next game, for your sake?”

“Please.” Karkat fell back, laughing at the raised pitch of Dave’s voice. Dave pulled his hand back, looking at it hesitantly before rubbing away his blush with it. His hand felt warm.

Moving on.

 

*~*~*~

 

“Last one, alright? Rose gave me this one, so it’s _gotta_ work.” 

“Well, that's a relief. What's this one?”

“It's called the Chapstick Challenge. Ever heard of it?”

“What the fuck is a Chapstick?”

Dave just let the increasingly angered troll simmer as he pulled out a bag of Chapsticks. Chap sticks? Who knew, a bag of fucking types of lip balm. “So in this game, you gotta guess what flavor of Chapstick I put on my lips, right? We’ll take turns.”

“How am I supposed to guess the flavor if it's on YOUR lips?” 

“C’mon Karkles, just trust me.” He looked up to see the scowl on Karkat’s face and his smile softened slightly. “Aww, Karkles, Karkles…” He brushed his hair out of his face, letting Karkat see his eyes. 

“I mean, it's really almost impossible to trust a douchebag like you, I mean-”

“Kitkat.” Karkat’s eyes widened as Dave offered up his hand, the human’s eyes soft and shining in the lights (he couldn't help but wonder if that hurt him, God, what did he put up with). “Do you trust me?” 

Karkat watched the hand for a moment before reaching to take the hand. “I do…” He looked up to see Dave holding back laughter. His wonderment dropped instantly. “You’re never allowed to watch my movies again,” he said with a glare, pulling his hand back. 

“Aww, but I’m the best troll Aladdin.” 

Karkat would not agree. 

Dave shook the bag, reaching in and digging around. “Alright, close your eyes. No peeking.” Karkat sighed, shutting his eyes, frowning. No sense arguing. He stirred slightly, letting his hands rest in his lap as he waited for Dave to finish whatever he was doing with the “chapstick”. “Are they closed?”

“My eyes are closed. I am seeing the _bleak void_ behind my eyes. There is nothing entertaining about this.” 

“Just wait a bit longer, I wanna make sure you can guess this.” He thankfully didn’t have long to wait (long enough to think of a few different things he might be doing with that chapstick, only one or two of which were good images). 

“Alright, Karkles. I think I’m done putting this on.” He laughed. “Haha, this is gonna be awesome.”

“The word ‘awesome’ means I should be in awe of this moment.” He felt hands on his cheeks, gently brushing against his ears. What was- “All I see is black-”

He was pulled forward sharply, his lips pressed against Dave’s. He breathed in sharply, surprised, feeling the unnatural smoothness of Dave’s lips. It was cool, refreshing. He’d tasted this before. He leaned in a bit more, but Dave quickly pushed him back. “Wha- Shit-”

“What’d you taste?”

Karkat looked at him, a bit frazzled, eyes wide. “... W-What?”

Dave grinned, licking his lips a tiny bit. “That’s the challenge - guess the flavor.”

Something clicked. “So… This was an excuse to KISS me?” And he started to realize more clearly that every single one of these little games was an excuse to do something sexual. Oh god, this boy was a complete moron. 

“Well, I mean… It’s part of the challenge.”

Karkat sighed, clenching his fists a bit, blushing. “... Minty.”

“You guessin’ mint?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, I’ll count it - it was peppermint.” He grabbed a washcloth from the bag, handing the bag to Karkat as he wiped off his own lips. “Grab one, I’ll shut my eyes.” 

Karkat glared. “... So whoever loses a guess first loses, right?” 

“Exactly.”

“I’m gonna make you my bitch, Strider.” Karkat grinned. Dave shook his head with a smile. Karkat rifled through the bag, making sure Dave kept his eyes shut. He pulled out a flavor. 

… What the fuck was a Mango?

Humans were weird.

He put on the chapstick, enjoying the fruity flavor immensely. Ooo, this would be nice to kiss- er, ‘challenge’ him with. He made sure to apply it thick, hiding it from sight when he was done. “Ready?”

“Duh.”

Karkat leaned forward, gently lifting Dave’s chin. He’d never noticed before, but there was a tiny bit of stubble on Dave’s chin. It wasn’t entirely unattractive… Could he grow to like beards? Possibly not, but… He might give it a try. Gently, he leaned forward and kissed Dave softly, focusing on the feeling of his lips. 

For his credit, Dave was a fantastic kisser. He leaned into it, pressing harder against the smooth texture, as though trying to claim even more of that smoothness. As they broke apart, Dave sighed softly. “Hmm… Fruity… Mango?”

“Fuck.” Karkat scowled, the glow from the kiss fading into the background from disappointment. “Yeah, that’s right.” He grabbed the washcloth, washing it off quickly. “Your turn.” He shut his eyes quickly, eager to get onto winning.

The next kiss took entirely too long to happen. He shivered slightly in antici-

And then it came.

… pation.

 

This one wasn’t as good as before. It tasted… sugary. Like candies he used to have as a wriggler, but more concentrated. It… wasn’t the most appealing, he realized. Dave pulled back and Karkat licked his lips, opening his eyes. “It… just tastes like sugar.” 

“Any ideas what kind of sugar?”

“Your planet has more than one type of sugar?”

“Well, it’s… It IS sugar, but like…” 

“Dave, your diets are entirely different from mine.”

Dave sighed and grinned. “Guess I gotta let you have it. It’s pixie stix flavored. Man, you gotta try some at some point, it’ll give you the sugar high of a lifetime.” Karkat was not looking forward to that moment.

And so they continued with Dave shutting his eyes and Karkat applying more chapstick to himself. He would never admit to cheating, but he did try to find something that Dave wouldn’t possibly guess. There was one called ‘Spiced Cider’ in the batch. How would Dave react to that one? He put it on, finding it to be spicy enough to tingle his lips just slightly, and kinda apple-y. Didn’t Dave like apple related things?... He leaned forward and gently kissed Dave, teasing him slightly with a brush of his tongue over the other’s lips. Dave murmured his approval at the action.

Dave pulled back, licking his own lips. “This tastes… Hmm…” His eyes started to widen slightly. “Oh my god, Kitkat, is that apple juice?!”

“Huh?” For a second, his heart raced. Was Dave already about to lose? Haha, of course he would lose so early in!

Dave grabbed Karkat’s shoulders quickly, eyes widening. “Is it apple juice? Is that flavor delicious _spiced apple juice_?” His grip on Karkat’s shoulders tightened as he said that. God, this kid loved his fucking AJ, apparently.

“I mean, it’s spiced cider,” Karkat said with a grin.

“That’s what spiced apple juice is!”

Oh.

“Fuck,” he mumbled again. Dave laughed.

So they continued. The next flavor from Dave was cake batter. Again, that was kinda hard - it’d been a very long time since he had cake. A wriggling day, so long ago. That brought back memories of his custodian - Crab Dad - and of his life before this game. He bit back the memories and repressed the shit out of those for later.

The next flavor from Karkat almost tripped Dave up. He had to think hard. He thought out loud, actually, muttering, “god, I’ve had this once before, one time for a birthday at some point…” His eyes widened and he grinned, snapping. “This one time, Bro bought these cupcakes from the store for my birthday and made me fight for them. I lost, obviously, but he gave them to me anyways. Red Velvet ones?”

“Goddamn it.” 

Dave laughed, smiling, looking a little lost in thought. “Man, I fucking loved those cupcakes, though, they tasted great.” Karkat filed that information for later along with the whole ‘fighting for my food’ thing. Maybe human culture and troll culture wasn’t very different after all, sometimes.

Karkat shut his eyes again, waiting for the next kiss. The time between each was getting shorter. He liked that fact. Soon enough, the kiss came and-

Holy shit.

 

Holy _shit_.

“Mmnf!” Dave gasped as Karkat pushed him against the armrest, kissing deeper. He began to bite Dave’s lip, sucking on the flavor a bit. “K-Karkles, n-need that-” He couldn’t finish his plea. Karkat kept sucking, blushing a bit. Holy fuck, that tasted good. 

Eventually, Dave managed to wrest his lips free from Karkat’s wrath. They were both panting a tiny bit. “W-Woah,” Dave said, fixing his hair.

Karkat licked his lips, smiling a tiny bit. “Chocolate. I _love_ chocolate.” 

“I can tell, woah.” Dave made sure to keep that one in mind.

 

Dave shut his eyes as they both regained some sensibilities. Karkat sighed, looking through the chapstick flavors. This wasn’t going to work out. They were too good at this. He needed to find a flavor that Dave would never guess. One that Dave would never be able to figure out…

He bit his lip harder as he thought about it. What could h-

OW.

He winced, licking over his lip. He hadn’t quite pierced it, but his fangs were getting sharper now. Fuck, was that a sign that he was getting older? Or was he just getting frustrated? He growled softly as he tasted the odd… almost indescribable taste of his lips.

His own lips.

His eyes widened.

 

Oh hell yes.

 

He leaned forward softly, licking his lips. “Get ready.”

“I’m always ready for you, Kitkat.”

Blushing, he kissed Dave with all he had, letting himself just enjoy the contact one last time. He knew for a fact that he won, even before he pulled away and saw Dave’s confused face, even before he saw the human’s brows furrow, even before Dave asked for another taste. “Only because I like kissing you,” he said, pretending to be angry at the request. 

Another kiss didn’t help, of course. Dave groaned in frustration, running a hand through his hair. “Fuck, no, I can’t lose!”

“Haha, do you give up?”

Dave nibbled the inside of his cheek (much to Karkat’s amusement). Finally, he heaved a long sigh. “Is it cherries?”

Karkat snorted. “Nope. I win.”

“FUCK!” Dave crossed his arms, looking away from Karkat. “What was it?”

“Nope.”

“Karkat.”

“Nnnope! The winner of the bet chooses not to tell you!” He smiled wide, digging around the discarded chapsticks. “Don’t worry, Dave, I’ve got something you might like.” Dave turned to see Karkat applying more chapstick. He raised a brow as Karkat looked at him, kissing him. Dave hummed happily, shutting his eyes.

 

It tasted like cider.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this chapter came out so late at night. It's so hard to adhere to this schedule! I may end up having to ignore it and just update whenever I feel like it again. It's a bit stressful...
> 
> In any case, I hope you all are enjoying this! Come visit me over at davetellhimaboutthequadrants.tumblr.com if you want to chat or ask the characters questions! Thanks for reading!
> 
> (All credit for the Chapstick Challenge material to artfulimpersonator, without whom, this fanfiction would not exist)


	21. Dave: Use The B Word

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuckfuck
> 
> Why, in the name of all things that are holy, did he have to say it in front of _her_?

Dave shut his eyes, just listening. He nodded along to the music, feeling the beat. There was a lot of problems with it, of course, it was a fucking piece of shit right now. But that's what practice was for, right? He just had to keep working with it and manipulating the drum beat - maybe put some reverb back in the ‘dwum dru-druphm’ part.

But for now, had to listen close, closer to hear all those little imperfections so he can work it out later. He had to focus.

Which was the problem.

He opened his eyes again, looking at Karkat. The troll was frowning (when wasn't he, the adorable little pouter), glaring at Dave’s turntables. He knew better than to touch them while the music was playing. Still, he was apparently mesmerized by the music, nodding along - thank god he had finally alchemized a dual audio player, two headphones made it so much easier. 

He could hear the music as Karkat’s scowl got just ever so slightly scowlier. That wasn’t a word, but whatever, Karkat’s scowl was doing that and it was fucking cute. He could see when that scowl shifted ever so slightly begrudgingly to show a mild affection for the shift in the music. He could see all that timing and actually get an in-real-time reaction to it. It wasn’t perfect - Karkat had no fucking taste in music - but it was perfect in an entirely different way.

Goddamn, this boy was cute.

 

The song ended.

 

“Dave, I’m impressed,” Karkat said, shifting the headphones off of his head carefully so as to avoid his horns. “You actually managed to make something shittier than the shit you normally make me listen to.”

“Nuh uh, you volunteered to listen to this shit this time around. Don’t try and turn that around on me.” Dave grinned, eyes locked in Karkat’s. They were definitely getting older, he realized. Karkat’s eyes were… weird. He was starting to see more of a reflection in them than he usually had, and there were tiny little hints of red. Of his own eye-color. 

It wasn’t really the coolest thing.

But the little questioning look that Karkat gave him, the little “what the fuck are you looking at” that he muttered as he slowly looked away… God, that made it a million times better. His own eyes softened and he couldn’t help but smile, just slightly, like he used to on the good days. The days when there were red velvet cupcakes on the counter instead of the roof, or when he took a particularly good picture for his collection.

Today was one of those good days too, he realized dimly. 

His smile grew a tiny bit. It wasn’t even noticeable. But that didn’t matter. It still grew.

“I said, what the fuck are you looking at, cocksuck, get back to the music.”

Dave laughed, shaking his head and turning back to his turntables. “Man, impatient to listen to these Strider-beats, aren’t you?” 

“Dave, you know very well-”

“Chill, Kitkat, I’m joking.” Karkat grumbled at the name, but said nothing more. Haha, he could make him shut up now, that was a relief. There was a time when Karkat would never shut up, no matter what Dave did. 

He supposed things were changing. 

Time was moving.

“Check this one out, Karkles, I made this way back in the day, back on Earth.” Karkat groaned, slipping back on the headphones, but he listened anyways.

Dave… Dave liked him for that.

 

Liked him for it.

 

Yeah.

 

*~*~*~

 

Dave yawned, rubbing his face. A busy, only slightly anxious, day with Karkat was always a good day. He’d made some sweet music with the troll (sadly not of the bed-squeaking nature, seems Karkles was waiting for the right moment to make Dave his bitch) and they’d had lunch together like those cute fucking school couples he’d seen on TV on in games. God, he made himself want to gag. 

After that, they’d chilled out, watching movies. Dave had made another Netflix and Chill joke that went completely over Karkat’s head. They’d watched another shitty romcom, but it had been fantastic. One they both mutually hated. Both of them could laugh at it. 

He thought back. Fuck, Karkat’s laugh was adorable. It was kind of rare to hear that boy laugh realistically. Sure, there was his bullshit laughter of “haha, that’s so fucking funny Strider, and by that I mean it’s not funny at all” and his occasional laughter of “wow, that almost made me have an emotion akin to human happiness”. But that was all just an act, Dave knew. He’d been acting so long himself that he knew an act when he saw one.

And that act was starting to fall through.

Karkat was becoming happier. Stronger. Sure, the meteor was rough, but they were growing up. This place brought on all sorts of challenges that each of them were dealing with. Hell, Dave still remembered what had happened when Rose had started drinking towards the beginning of the journey; Vriska had _fucked her up_. But that was one of the challenges. 

Dave knew what his challenge was. He still thought about it constantly. There was no avoiding the fucking idea, of course, no matter how much music or shitty romcoms he drowned himself in. He always had just one thing on his mind that was stopping him from enjoying this moment to its fullest, one stupid thing that kept getting in the way.

That thing was the future.

There would be a day when this meteor finally landed. When the future started happening and suddenly became the present before anyone really realized. They’d be in the shit then, all of them. Rose, Kanaya, TZ and Vris, even that baked juggalo would be in the shit. Everyone would be.

Including Karkat.

 

 _Him_ and Karkat.

 

He was going to have to face that fact eventually. 

“Man, I am fuckin’ exausted,” he muttered to no one in particular, flopping naked on the covers. It didn’t take him long to fall asleep for once. 

 

*~*~*~

 

Dave looked in the mirror. 

“What. the. Fuck.”

There was a dick on his head.

 

He wasn’t the one to put that there. He would’ve remembered drawing a dick on his head. Had he drawn that on himself in his sleep? Nah, there were no red mark-

Red.

His eyes widened (the lights were hella bright, he might grab his sunglasses). 

“Karkles.”

That. Fucker.

“KARKAT!” Dave charged out of the bathroom, grabbing a towel and wrapping that around his waist - no need to scar any offending females in the vicinity with his enormous penis, after all. No need makin’ the ladies fain- okay so he was just fucking self conscious, whatever, his cheeks were flushed red with embarrassment and anger as he made his way to Karkat’s cellblock. 

Rose looked up from her book as she heard him coming down the other side of the hallway. “Oh, you’re finally u-...” A small smile came to her face as Dave paused, glaring at her. “... Karkat?”

“No, the goddamn tooth fairy.’

Rose chuckled, shaking her head. “Have fun. I’ll go back to reading.”

“You do that, Lalonde. I’ll just go find a certain troll and ask him if this shit is permanent or not, cause as much as I like red dicks, I usually like them attached to my boyfriend and not drawn on my head,” Dave said quickly, impatient. They had to have some sort of verbal spar every time they saw each other, but it was surprisingly cold in this hallway and that enormous penis thing was definitely suffering from that. He started forward when he saw Rose’s face.

That look of delight should _not_ scare him as much as it did.

He reviewed what he said quickly. He’d been speaking fast, not really guarding his wor-

Oh.

 

Oh _**shit**_.

“Lalonde, grow up, I’m allowed to call him my boyfriend,” Dave said, significantly less angry than he had been moments ago. Fuck, he’d actually said the, uh… ‘b’ word. Fuck. Fuck, well, that made everything seem way more official somehow. Wow. Okay. Weird.

“I’m just surprised it happened so soon,” she said, the enthusiasm just barely hidden in her voice. She shut her eyes and turned, proceeding to walk away. “As I said, have fun!”

“You too,” he said, still blushing. That was all he could say.

 

Usually, Rose won the verbal sparring matches.

He walked quickly to Karkat’s, wanting to get this shit off of his face. It was annoying the hell out of him. It itched on his skin a bit, but scratching it would make scratches that lasted like 2 days. Not fair. He just had to get his b-- KARKAT’S word that this would come off with just soap and water.

He still wasn’t quite ready for that ‘b’ word yet.

He gulped as he avoided the word again and kept walking.

 

*~*~*~

 

That night, as he looked in the mirror (trying his best to ignore the almost entirely faded but still somewhat able to be seen if you squint dick), he sighed. It was getting late, but he wasn’t tired. Well, no, that was a fucking lie, he was tired as shit. It had been another exhausting day, after all. Another exhausting day just like the day before. It was a disgusting rut that he hated, but he had to deal with it.

Karkat made that more bearable. 

God, he was so damn cliche.

But beyond that unbearableness that was made bearable by his teddy bear, Karkat (okay, yeah, no, never he would never call Karkat that again, that felt way too weird), something had been plaguing his mind, again. That seemed to happen with surprising frequency. Maybe, someday after the game, he might be able to live a semi-normal life as a God of Time, watching over the world with an iron clock, but until then, he supposed he would have problems.

And right now, his problem was the fact that _Karkat had managed to sneak up on him_.

In his sleep.

That wasn’t alright. Dave had never been a deep sleeper before this game. Back on Earth, he had to wake up at a moment’s notice for the morning spar. If he wasn’t awake early, then Bro and Cal would get the jump on him. 

Fuck.

Bro.

Cal.

 

He shook his head, sighing. He couldn’t stop thinking about them lately. Maybe it was because of all the things that went down with Karkat a while back, but right now, in the present, he couldn’t stop thinking about them. 

He had the fleeting thought that maybe if he had just… done the ‘smart’ thing, gone back in time before he hurt Karkles that night-

No.

Time doesn’t work like that.

Time can’t be made or destroyed. It can only be bent a few ways so that certain things happen in different orders.

He absolutely _refused_ the possibility of reliving what he did to Karkles, even if that meant dealing with the tough ramifications of that now.

 

He sighed. It had been a long day. Dwelling on this stuff wasn’t worth it right now. Bro was gone. Cal was… hopefully forever lost in the void of space, but that fucker has a way of coming back, so you know what, he wouldn’t fucking put it past Cal to end up being like the final boss of this shitty game or something.

_Alright, calm your tits, Strider._

He took a deep breath and headed over to the bed, lying down and watching the ceiling. 

 

… He’d called Karkat his boyfriend.

He’d never had a boyfriend before. He didn’t know what to do in this situation. It was new. Sure, he’d be able to do it on the fly, he was just cool like that… But that didn’t stop him from being nervous. What if he fucked this up somehow? What if something went wrong?

 

Heh. Knowing him, it probably would. He would probably mess this all up. He _will_ mess this all up, a million million times over. There’s thousands of Doomed Timelines out there, timelines he made himself, timelines where he went back into the past and killed everyone left alive in the session because all hope was lost. This could be a timeline where he kills them all and goes back to a time where Karkat didn’t even see him as a blip on the radar.

… He just had to have faith that it wasn’t one of those timelines.

And somehow, thinking of Karkat as his… his boyfriend…

Somehow, that helped him have enough faith that if he closed his eyes right now, he could open them in the morning and still consider it a ‘fresh start’ to a ‘good day’.

 

He could still see it as a day with a future to it.

 

He shut his eyes, Karkat on his mind. Karkat, his boyfriend. And he fell asleep, smiling, not even enough to notice. But it was still there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking around guys! I might be getting rid of this schedule, I'm just so ridiculously busy on the weekends, and I'm so busy with college right now. I would love to hear your thoughts on it, if you wanted to comment about the schedule here or over at davetellhimaboutthequadrants.tumblr.com? :)


	22. Canon: Encounter Fanon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when a dream bubble collides? Well, it would be fine, if two people weren't dating and one isn't so keen on polyamory.

Waking up in the middle of an all too familiar forest was not on Karkat’s bucket list. That is to say, it wasn't an idea he could be aroused by, or even mildly accepting of. The idea was so unappealing that Karkat hadn't even considered it ever once being a possibility.

So when it happened, he was disgruntled, to say the least.

“Stupid fucking-” He grumbled as he walked over roots and the like, irritably rubbing his eyes to wake himself up a bit. It was too early to be doing the dream bubble routine. He'd gotten to sleep late, reading one of the many Earth novels that seemed to exist in infinite amount. This one was a fantasy about a man with invincibility who inherited a bunch of magic abilities from his father, a father who apparently sent him to the mortal plane just to die. It was hell to read, but Dave had mentioned how the “Bïblè” was considered a classic in human culture, akin to “Romeo and Juliet” or “My Immortal”. If it was that important to culture, then Karkat had to suffer through it. And then figure out what those other books were.

As he walked, all thoughts of the Bïblè and other classics faded. He just had to focus on getting through this fucking forest without falling and breaking his nose on some stupid roots. 

Which meant, of course, that the very next thing that he did was fall flat on his face after tripping on a stupid root. “FUC-” His face slammed straight into the forest floor, giving him a wonderful vision of blackness and sticks. Great. Fantastic job, Vantas. 

He sat up, brushing leaves off of his face, spitting out a twig. He sighed. “Of course. Of course! This would be exactly what would happen.” Grumbling, Karkat stood, dusting himself off before continuing further. “Why, of all days, did this happen today? I thought we were out of the dream bubble area.” 

As his shoes crunched from fallen leaves onto purple tiles, Karkat knew he was mistaken. He had known he was mistaken already, of course, because he was in a fucking dream bubble area to begin with, and Past Karkat was once again an idiot for even saying that thing about dream bubbles. He sighed, his bad mood only getting worse as he took in his surroundings.

Purple columns and regal banners. 

No wonder he was in a bad mood. He had to deal with royalty.

 

“Yo, Kitkat!” 

But that would make this better. Karkat turned to see Dave running up, an entirely new outfit on. Kanaya had started making outfits again and Dave was reaping the benefits. Today, it seemed to be skinny jeans and a red sweater. Karkat had to admit that Dave looked nice - not out loud, of course, but to himself. Karkat kept his mouth firmly in the shape of a scowl. “Great, just the moron I wanted to see.”

“Aww, you do care.” 

“Shut up, you flushed bastard,” Karkat muttered, pouting. That earned a laugh from Dave, who shoved his hands in his pockets, grinning as he looked around. “Not the best way to start a morning.”

“I can think of better ways.” Karkat eyed Dave to figure out if that was a sexual innuendo, but Dave wasn’t looking his way. Karkat assumed it was. “So, we’re in the palace of the fish aliens, right?” 

Karkat sighed. “Yep. So, we’re gonna be seeing plenty of Mee-”

He held the syllable as he looked closer at the banners all around. They looked so similar to normal, but this time around… that sign… Wait. Did that mean… 

“Plenty of who?”

Karkat’s eyes widened as it all fell into place. “... plenty of _me_.”

“What?” 

“C’mon!” Karkat tugged on Dave’s arm, dragging him closer as he started to run. Dave stumbled, but just chose to accept it. They ran into the palace, darting through purple brick hallways and passing fuchsia banners. Dave didn't pay too much attention, but something did feel mildly different. He didn't have time to figure it out before Karkat pulled him into a large room.

 

This was obviously a throne room, evidenced by the throne that took a prominent place at the back wall. Golden accents surrounded the stained glass windows, on which an all too familiar sign was shown in fuchsia color. Dave took it in with little surprise, due to the figure that sat up taller on the throne when they both walked in. After all, that would attract his attention much more than anything else in here.

The purple clad, regal ass motherfucker sat down, a familiar scowl on his face as his white eyes looked on, bored. He held in his hands a golden staff, tipped with two curved hooks, like sickles. “Great,” the dream bubble Karkat said, lounging with his legs crossed, one foot bouncing. “What exactly do you two want?”

 

Dave blinked, looking at Karkat - his Karkat, not this one, who the fuck- “Um. What? The fuck?” 

Karkat groaned, holding his face in a hand. “Seriously, universe? There’s a fucking timeline where _this_ happens?”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” fuchsia Karkat - Dave was just going to think of him as Fuchsia now, this was instantly confusing - said, looking at Karkat’s grey sign with vague surprise. His lips - was that a light sheen of lipstick? - pursed slightly. “So in the main timeline, I’m a mutant blood? Gross.”

Karkat’s ears twitched slightly. Dave had never noticed that before, but he did notice the reddish pink tink that rose to his ears. Oh, fuck. Karkat’s hand fell into a fist in front of him as he growled. “ _What?_ ”

“And what’s this thing?” Fuchsia said next, gesturing towards Dave, completely ignoring Karkat’s simmering. Dave couldn’t help but notice that Fuchsia’s arms were 1, completely exposed, and 2, covered in little freckles. Why was he noticing that? “It’s so… white.”

“He’s human,” Karkat said, crossing his arms. “Obviously.”

“Oh yeah, so obvious to the one who had never seen one of them before.” Fuchsia rose from the throne, walking down to the pair. Dave was feeling increasingly uncomfortable with this situation and he couldn’t quite put his finger on why. Fuchsia walked up, looking at Dave critically. “Do all of them look like this one?”

Dave cleared his throat. “No, actually, I’m one of a kind.”

Fuchsia smirked, showing off his sharper teeth. “Oh, so the human does speak. Here I thought you’d gone dumb at the sight of me.” Dave frowned. He was getting the distinct feeling that this Karkat was going to piss him off, big time. 

Karkat, the real one, cleared his throat obviously. “You’ve seriously never seen a human?”

Fuchsia shrugged easily, leaning against the trident-sickle hybrid, eyes still on Dave (who was still feeling more and more uneasy with each passing second, there was something he was missing here). “I’m a pretty private guy. Our session ended fast, all of my ‘friends’-” he said, air quotes and all - “died, and I decided, what the fuck, why not just go home and relax? My race is dead now, so my responsibilities are finally done and over with.”

“Wait, you don’t care?”

“Why should I? It’s done, isn’t it?” Fuchsia licked his lips, smiling. “You know, I think I _like_ this one.” 

And Dave quickly realized what was wrong, but it was far too late to escape; Fuchsia grabbed his collar, tugging him forward, and suddenly his lips were on someone else's and _okay yeah fuck those are Karkles’ lips_.

“MNF-” Dave tried to pull away, a deep red blush of anger and, well, something else starting with an a rising to his face. But hell if Fuchsia wasn’t strong. Dave couldn’t pull away, even though he really fucking wanted to, this was _wrong_ and should not be happening, but fuck, it was still Karkat, but this _fucker_ really wasn’t- he was definitely getting turned on, fuck this moment _so_ much-

Finally, Karkat, thank christ, Karkat pulled them apart, growling. “HEY.” Fuchsia looked at Karkat curiously, licking his lips again. Karkat hissed softly, protectively. “Gills off the boyfriend, fish boy.”

Fuchsia raised a brow. “Boyfriend?”

Karkat flushed slightly. “Er… Matesprit,” he muttered, far less certain.

Fuchsia looked surprised, eyes widening as he looked between both flushed boys. “You mean you two…” He laughed, face bright. He seemed much more… enthusiastic than Karkat. “Well, at least we know we’ve got good taste, hmm?” Fuchsia looked back at Dave (who was in the process of trying to get rid of the offending boner he was getting). “But why should your matesprit be my concern? I just wanted a taste.” He seemed to be almost pouting.

“Look, Karkat here is mine, and I’m his,” Dave said, frowning. “You’re not gonna get me too.”

“Oh, calm down, Human-”

“ _Dave_.”

Fuchsia frowned now, grip tightening ever so slightly on the golden trident-sickle. “I’ll call you what I call you.” He sighed, the frown quickly fading to that same cocky smile as he relaxed. “In any case, it’s not like I want to break up your matespritship. Hell, with all that aggression I feel from you, I think you could be a luscious little black romp.”

 

Karkat was absolutely speechless.

Dave glared, red eyes glinting with barely contained anger. “No. Straight up, flat out, no. I’m not gonna cheat on my boyfriend.”

“It’s not cheating, it’s just quadrants. Yeesh, do humans know anything?”

“ _Yes_ , we fucking do, you goddamn asshole.” Dave stepped forward, poking his finger into Fuchsia’s chest. “Karkat isn’t _just_ my Matesprit. He’s _everything_. Matesprit, Auspistice, Moirail, and Kismesis. And, hey, I’ll admit, you’re hot. That’s just admitting that my boyfriend is hot too. But you? You’re an ass, and I can tell that already. So fuck off, enjoy using your right hand for help, and maybe shove that weapon up your ass to get yourself off.”

Fuchsia, in the time it took Dave to say all that, had flushed with anger, his eyes wide in disbelief. His hand had tightened once more around the weapon he had, knuckles tinting a dark purple with the force of his grip. He opened his mouth to make a hot retort, but Dave turned his back, looking towards Karkat. “C’mon, Karkles, let’s get out of this place. There’s a fishy smell in here that’s turning my stomach.” Not waiting for the response, Dave hotly left, his footsteps echoing in the room.

Karkat looked back at Fuchsia’s stunned face, taking it in with no small pleasure. “... Yeah. Don’t kiss my boyfriend again.” That’s all he said before he joined Dave.

Fuchsia took a breath, trying to simmer down. He slowly managed it as he thought about it all, eventually shrugged again, turning his back on the pair. “Not worth it,” he said, a small smile rising back to his lips. “Besides - once the human breaks up with him, maybe it’ll be my turn.” That happy thought in mind and the encounter already forgotten, he strode back up to the throne, relaxing. He shut his eyes.

“I can’t wait for that day.”

 

*~*~*~

 

Dave took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. The echoing of his fast footsteps rose to his ears, fueling his anger. “Hey.” He ignored. He really needed a secon- “Dave, wait!” He shut his eyes and kept walking. “DAVE.”

He turned on his heel, opening his eyes, gesturing. “Look, Kitkat, I need a fucking minute!”

Karkat stopped, surprised. Dave took a deep breath again, trying to keep it steady. Karkat stood by, patiently, just waiting, a concerned scowl on his face. Slowly, slowly, Dave managed to calm down, the tension in his shoulders beginning to ebb away. Relaxing left him with a sick feeling, though, one of familiar shame.

“Sorry,” he muttered, not meeting Karkat’s eyes. 

“What? Dave, why would you be sor-”

“I overreacted!” Dave sighed, rubbing his face. Goddamn it. “I mean, yeah, so I’m not comfortable blatantly kissing someone in front of my boyfriend, but that doesn’t mean I tell them to drive a trident sickle hybrid up their ass.”

“Dave, if you think I’m going to be mad about something like that, you’re dead wrong.”

“I know, I know, but just… He was saying legit shit. I mean, everything he was saying made sense.”

Karkat raised a brow. “So were you. Just because Fuchsia asshole wanted to get in your pants doesn’t mean you have to be okay with it.” Dave straightened up to say something, but Karkat held up his hand. “Lemmie finish, okay?” Dave hesitated, but he nodded. “Look. I’m… I’m fine with you having more than me. If Fuchsia asshole appeals to your blacker side, knock yourself out, I won’t stop you.”

“Ew, dude, no. You’re plenty.” Karkat scrunched up his nose as Dave smirked. “Besides, I’m sure his ass is whiter than mine, the amount of light it sees.” Karkat couldn’t resist a snicker. “And his kisses don’t even fucking compare.” 

“Dave, he’s _literally_ me, you don’t need to insult me to make me feel better.”

“Aww, if I’d known you were into that-”

“Dave!” He couldn’t help but laugh. Karkat shook his head, sighing. “In any case… You shouldn’t feel bad, then. Fuck him, don’t fuck him, that’s up to you. I’m used to troll romance, meaning everyone usually has multiple partners. Why don’t humans do that?”

“I mean… I guess some people do? I’m just not sold on it. One person should be enough, and probably legit all one person can handle.” Dave ran a hand through his hair. “I guess you’re right. Heh, my overreacting is really about my overreacting, I guess.”

Karkat rolled his eyes. Good enough for now. “C’mon, fucker, let’s get out of this place. We can try and find my room.”

Dave nodded along, deciding to give Karkat a break after he so expertly handled the rising anger in him. Karkat was incredibly good at that, he realized. He had been working on keeping himself calmer, but sometimes… Stuff like that, being manhandled like that, being treated like an interesting experiment, it just drove him mad. And Karkat, being the amazing boy he is, was able to calm him down.

Just one more reason to be his boyfriend. 

But, while he was ready to give Karkat a break, he couldn’t resist saying one more thing as it hit him while they were walking. He stopped in his tracks, eyes widening.

“Fuck.”

“What?”

“I should’ve called it a _tri-sickle_.”

 

*~*~*~

 

He was happy this came around as soon as it did. He hadn’t been expecting it just yet, but better that it happened now, rather than later. The longer it took, the more likely it was he’d be found out and locked up. No way was he letting that happen.

So finding himself in half-formed bedrooms filled with the little toys he needed, finding himself in rooms and hallways filled with strings and friends he could play with… It was downright magical. 

He grabbed everything he needed, hugging a few of the softer ones. They felt all nice in his hands. He kept an eye on the time, but he was bad at all that, surprising himself with how long he hugged and grabbed shit. It was taking too long. He captchalogued what he needed and quickly left.

He made his way aimlessly through the bubble, listening closely. He made sure to stay clear of anyone. Finally, hallways shifted to forests, from forests to sand, and from sand to a familiar, lapping ocean.

He sat on the beach, staring into the miracle system he had. Out came his bell. Just as planned.

He tied it around his neck, thankful for the brief silence as it had lasted. He watched the sea, still, dissociating fast. The sober thoughts had been nice, too, the straight thinking and lack of haziness. That all faded soon enough.

Spider bitch would find him soon enough. 

Everything was going according to plan.

He smiled, completely blank as he shifted, hearing the little jingle around his neck.

 

“honk.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIVE.
> 
> It's been awhile, and I'm super sorry about all that. It's building up to finals week now, meaning it's been harder and harder to update. I've been hard at work trying to get back to a place where I think this fanfic is going the way I want. I think this chapter is much better quality than some of the latest chapters so far. I don't know if you all will notice and/or care, but I'm happier with this chapter than I have been in some chapters in awhile. Not only that, but I think the pacing is getting a bit better, as well as the planning for the next few Acts. I hope you all are still sticking around and still enjoying. Thank you!


	23. Karkat: Stop Having Nightmares, The Fanbase Can't Handle This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They never get easier, whether you realize it's a dream or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: lots of blood and gore. Merry Christmas guys :D

Sometimes, Karkat knew it was a dream right when he opened his eyes.

 

He was in a cathedral. Instantly, he realized that it was just a bit cold in here; he fought back shivers as he looked at his surroundings. The walls were an odd off-tan color brick - he grazed his fingertips over them, feeling it tingle against his skin. It was rough. He looked up a bit, looking at the stained glass windows. Light shone through them all. He saw his sign there, in black glass, surrounded by every color of the hemospectrum. He spun around, seeing 12 different windows - 12 different shades of color for each version of his sign. 

And in the very front, a giant window took precedence in the middle of the wall, one with a… a figure. It was just an adult troll in a cloak. He had his hand raised, the face obscured except for one feature; he had red eyes. They shone from under the hood. 

Karkat looked away. Looking at it felt wrong - it felt almost as though those eyes were following him. He looked around instead at the empty pews. A magenta carpet was rolled down the middle of the aisle. “Hello?!” His voice echoed clearly around him, filling his ears - it sounded almost like static at first. 

No one responded. He sighed. “Figures. No more late nights reading human drivel, Karkat.” He rubbed his face, exhausted. Even in his fucking dreams, he couldn’t get enough sleep. He sniffed. The world smelled different. It was like dew, or maybe just a moisture in the air that didn’t sit well with him. He scrunched up his nose in disgust.

He looked over to the left, seeing the door in the distance. It seemed to be the only exit. He walked over to it, pushing on it hard. It shook a bit, but nothing else happened. He pulled - nada. It just shuddered, the creaking noise echoing as well. “Great…” Seemed he wouldn’t be able to exit the dream that way. 

He turned around.

 

His eyes widened.

“Hello,” the cloaked figure said, standing in the aisle. 

 

His ears twitched as he heard something in the distance.

 

Welp. Okay. That was… sure something.

Karkat looked back up at the stained glass window. The figure was gone, leaving a blank, red wasteland behind. It was just an empty window now, casting a red light over the hall. He looked at the cloaked troll. He assumed it was a troll from the grey skin of his hands - but, beyond that, all he saw were glowing red eyes under the hood and the tips of horns peaking out of the top of the hood. Everything else about this person was hidden from view. “Heya,” Karkat replied, unsure of what else to say.

 

Somewhere, music began to play, note by note. It was a metallic sound, slow. The world was in slow motion.

 

“What brings you here tonight?” The figure asked.

“I’m dreaming. That’s what brings me here.” Karkat looked away from the troll, rubbing his face. He pinched his wrist for a moment, shutting his eyes tightly. “C’mon, c’mon, just wake up already…” The words ‘wake up’ echoed around him, taunting him ever so slightly. He growled. How annoying.

“Do you think you will stay long?” The voice was void of emotion.

Karkat sighed, opening his eyes again. The figure had tilted his head to the right. “No. At least, I don’t plan to. I just need to wake up.”

“Why?”

“Why?” Karkat raised a brow. “Because I don’t wanna be here. That’s why. Do you have any ideas on how to get out of here, or are you just going to ask me stupid questions through this entire boring dream?”

The figure paused a moment, head still tilted. Karkat crossed his arms, feeling uncomfortable under the red gaze of the troll. Finally, suddenly, Karkat had blinked and the troll’s head had shifted to the other side. “Is this a bad place for you?”

Karkat groaned, facepalming. Hard. “Yay, seems you chose the ‘stupid questions, boring dream’ route. Whoop-de-fucking-doo.” He looked at the figure seriously (was the music box in the distance getting louder? Fuck if he knew or cared) with a scowl. “Look, I don’t give a shit. I just want to leave, so just let me fucking wake up, alright? I just want to wake up and get away from here.”

 

The figure sighed, head straightening. He sounded bored as he looked up. Karkat watched the hood on the figure slip back, revealing… 

Oh fuck not again, it was him. As in himself. 

But this one had bright red eyes, and he was looking up at…

 

Karkat gulped, looking straight up at the bodies hanging from the ceiling. Random trolls, dripping rainbows of blood suddenly towards him, random trolls that had not been there mere moments ago when he was surveying the cathedral. He felt drops of blood patter against his face, blood from countless trolls that he somehow knew. These were trolls who had died in this hellish game, the one he’d doomed, the one he’d fucked up. He looked back down to see the carpet stained in all the different colors. The other him was watching with a vague, dim curiosity, eyes bleeding, red lines tracing down from the eyes. He held a sickle in his hands, testing the blade on the edge of his fingers, the very same fingers Karkat had just ran across the bricks. “It’s almost funny…”

“I think they said the same thing.”

 

The music box was louder. But now he could hear two distinct lines, just a split second distorted from each other. There were two versions of the same exact song playing with just a second delay. It echoed softly around the cathedral.

 

“What… What the hell…” He wanted to wake up all the more now. Knowing this was a dream didn’t help the sensation of blood dripping down his face go away. It still felt like blood. It still felt like the blood of innocents. 

Fuck, no, he couldn’t think that way. It was just a dream. He had to keep telling himself that. It was just a dream. He just had to wake up before this got any worse.

He slapped his face, growling softly. “C’mon, Vantas, wake up…”

The other him watched with a vague curiosity as he struggled to wake. “You do realize that won’t do anything?” Karkat ignored him. “What do you hope to accomplish?”

“Gee, I figured ‘wake up and get away from here’ was obvious.” Karkat glanced behind him, backing up slightly against the door. Still wouldn’t budge. When he looked forward once more, the figure had moved closer. “Woah, personal space, get off of my ass, bulgesack.”

The windows were bleeding now too, he realized. Why did all of his dreams always have so much blood? He might be slightly disturbed by blood, sure, but did it really have to follow him everywhere he went? Ugh. He was starting to feel sick.

 

Far above, a bell began to toll the hours.

 

_**Ding** _

 

The other him looked almost amused, but it was a trick of light. Karkat realized dimly that this figure didn’t blink at all. He wasn’t sure why he noticed. “That door won’t open,” he said, no more than a whisper; he didn’t need to speak louder. His voice was carried by the building itself. 

“Yeah, I think I get that.” Karkat rubbed his head, groaning softly. The music was getting a bit too loud. Where the fuck was that coming from? “Look, I’m _really_ fucking tired and just want to get some sleep without having these goddamn nightmares. Can we just cut to where you murder me brutally or something?”

The other figure laughed, and as he did, another music track joined the cacophony. Karkat winced in pain, holding his ears. It was all the same song, but just repeated, over and over again, unwavering, unchanging. It was all happening at the same time when it shouldn’t have been happening.

 

**_Ding_ **

 

“If you really want to wake up that bad, that’s alright. I’ll let you wake up.” The other him looked different now; distorted. The red eyes were solidly red, blood seeping from both corners. “You just need to do it yourself.”

Karkat snarled, hissing very softly. He was in pain and annoyed. “Then just fucking tell me how to do it!”

The other laughed, raising the sickle up to examine it. “I thought that would be obvious.”

 

**_Ding_ **

 

Another music box joined the fray. Karkat felt tears rising to his eyes as he began to kneel on the now multicolored carpet, the blood instantly seeping into his pants. It was getting too loud. There was a static sound behind the music, something hidden that he could just almost hear. 

The other laughed more, the sound growing more and more distorted, unnatural. “Have you figured it out?”

“FUCKING TELL ME!”

The other grinned. “If you insist,” he said. “I can give you a hint. I gave them hints too.”

With one motion, the already raised sickle sliced across the other’s neck, severing the head completely from the body.

 

**_Ding_ **

 

Another joined in. It wasn’t even close to the same timing as the others. Karkat was sobbing, in pain, watching his own head roll across the floor. All of the blood trapped in the sockets was now pooling, leaking out of the quickly decaying skull from the mouth instead. Karkat was going to be very sick if he didn’t get out of here soon.

He looked up, anywhere but the body, as the sickle crashed to the floor. It made a clang that echoed louder than the bells or the music or anything else in the hall. Karkat cried out in pain as it did. 

 

**_Ding_ **

 

He started to stand, knees shaking. He pushed against the door in futility. Nothing worked. Looking up, he learned that was a mistake quickly - the blood was falling like acid rain, burning his eyes as the searing, boiling liquid hit his face. He resisted a scream of pain, trembling from the tension in his body as he took a step forward. 

The sickle was right there. The body still stood, headless, blood dripping from wounds that crisscrossed its flesh. It stood, lifeless, above the sickle. He could just grab it and end this right away.

 

No.

That’s exactly what the dream wanted.

Karkat was fucking done with that shit now.

 

_**Ding** _

 

He took a halting step forward as the music was right next to him now. His breath was faltering in his windbags as he panted. Each breath brought more pain. 

The body took a wider stance. His eyes hardened into a glare as he shook, thinking. Taking a deep breath, he shut his eyes and began to scream as he took his hands off of his ears.

 

_**DING** _

 

“Y-GAAH!” Karkat cried out in pain, feeling the blood in his ears as he pushed forward, tackling the body, pushing it aside with his hands. As soon as he made it past, his hands took their place again at his ears. It did little to help the blood dripping down the side of his face, down his chin and shirt. 

He was shaking. The world was shaking. 

 

Why wasn’t he awake yet? Why… why why why why why

 

_**DING** _

 

The world wouldn’t stop shaking. It was fuzzy around the edges. He stood again - he’d fallen, when had he- and kept his eyes forward. 

Red.

He saw red.

He was crying.

Bleeding.

Red wasteland.

 

_**DING** _

 

“NINE!” He kept going, up the aisle, blood pouring down from above. He was a walking shrine to the hemospectrum, his mutant red blood seeping from the acid burns on his body, blending into the sludgy mixture that clung to him like glue. Blood rose from the carpet as he walked, squeezed out of the material, wrung out from the willing sponge laid out to collect the dead’s parting gift.

The music was so loud, so much, so many, it all seemed to overlap now, just constant sound in his ears. The blood rushing through his skull was almost enough to drown it out.

 

_**DING** _

 

“T-Ten!” His voice was getting weaker. The world was going black. No… grey. It was grey around the edges. The stained windows were fading. The only thing he could see soon was the red wasteland ahead, the red stained glass window.

Freedom.

The last escape he had left, the _real_ last escape. He couldn’t choose anything else but this. THIS was his only choice.

 

_**DING** _

 

Forward.

His only choice.

 

He stumbled up to the window sill. His legs were shaking. His hands dropped to his sides, the music deafening him. He could hear absolutely nothing, suddenly, all that was left was…

 

He turned back towards the body, the head, the bodies that hung from the ceiling. It happened in slow motion.

 

They were smiling.

 

He laughed softly, unable to hear it. He took a step backwards, unable to hear the sound of his shoe against the sill. He didn’t hear the bell toll 12, the last toll of the night.

 

And the window shattered as he fell.

 

Falling.

 

Silence.

 

He fell into the silence, the red window glass falling with him, his wounds dripping into blackness.

 

And it was peace.

 

 

His eyes shot open and he sat up instantly, feeling his body crash to the grou- _no_. No, it hadn’t… Nothing had happened. It had been a dream. A nightmare. A messed up, fucked up, no more horror stories before bed, mister ‘this edgar allan poe human can’t have written that much fucked up shit’. 

His bloodpusher felt like it had been crushed in his chest. It was pounding, but it felt wounded. His head pounded too. He held it, groaning in pain - waking up with a headache was the worst. A quick glance at the time showed that it was an entirely indecent hour for anything or anyone to possibly be awake.

He rubbed his eyes. He shut them for a moment, hoping, wishing he might be able to just… doze off? To fall-

 

And he saw the bodies, the skull with blood seeping out of it’s gaping-

His eyes opened again, wide and scared once more.

 

Sleep wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Not when he was this scared. But what could he do? Reading would aggrevate his headache. Talking out loud as a distraction was, 1, Dave’s technique and, 2, might wake other people up. Soft things might help, but he would have to get up.

But a single thought flashed into his head.

So Karkat decided to choose all three options - go do something that would aggravate his headache, might wake the others, and give him something soft to cuddle.

 

*~*~*~

 

“Dave?” He kept his voice as soft as he could, which, for Karkat, was an achievement - as well as a complete failure. At the very least, it was enough to wake the human boy from a very nice, deep sleep, causing him to flail and fall out of the bed as he reached for his sword. Of course, Karkat saw none of this, only hearing a subsequent thud from behind the door. “Strider?”

“‘M up, I’m up, shit, fuck-”

“Can I come in?”

Dave looked at himself (asscheeks currently against the cold tile of the floor and dick hanging limp like a wet noodle) and cleared his throat. “Just a minute!”

The door slid open just a minute later, Dave wearing a pair of boxers and a concerned look. “Hey, what’s up, Karkat? Did something happen, what’s wr-”

Karkat pushed Dave into the room, closing the door behind them. Dave raised a brow, but Karkat didn’t give him a chance to react. “Okay so I had a really fucked up nightmare and I couldn’t fall back asleep afterwards because it really messed me up and now I can’t stop thinking about it and I thought, ‘hey, just how much DO you hate yourself, cause I think it might just be enough to go bother your boyfriend from his obviously much needed rest’ so I did that because I fucking hate myself and already regret this choice and now-”

Karkat had to pause due to the fact that Dave was suddenly kissing him. 

Oh.

Okay.

Maybe this hadn’t been such a bad choice.

Dave pulled away, licking his lips afterwards - the air in the medium had a tendency to dry them out. He needed to use more of that chapstick. “Alright, breathless. Strip.”

Karkat recoiled slightly, surprised. “Uh, what?”

“Get naked, or in the nude, or whatever you wanna do man.” Dave yawned, backing up slightly, but not straying too far. He leaned against the bed, smiling, exhaustion tugging at his features. It caused a pang in Karkat’s heart, but he wasn’t sure if it was entirely hatred that he’d put Dave in this situation that caused that pang. “I’m not used to sleepin’ with all that clothing next to me.”

“Sleeping… cloth…” Karkat slowly put two and two together. He gained a small blush, a scowl taking to his face - but he proceeded to begin to strip. Dave could see the tension in Karkat’s body start to dissipate. Good. He pulled back the covers and stepped back as Karkat stripped to his briefs. “C’mon then.”

Running his arms over his bare chest, Karkat couldn’t help but feel a little exposed. The last time he’d been this nude with Dave, they’d been about to have sex. Surprisingly, that felt more normal than this casual nudity. But still… He managed a small smile of relief. This was… helping. He wasn’t sure how or why but… It was.

Karkat curled up into the bed and Dave joined him, the covers being pulled up around them by the latter. Karkat felt Dave’s arms snake around his torso, pulling him closer. Karkat’s eyes widened as he felt Dave’s bare chest against his back, feeling each breath the human took. 

They spent a few moments in silence, just listening to the other breathe.

 

“Do you wanna talk about it,” Dave finally whispered, his voice soft and soothing next to Karkat’s ear.

Karkat took a deep breath, blinking. As he did, he could still see the flash of the dream, but… Dave’s breathing helped sooth him. His touch helped bring him into reality. Taking a deep breath, Karkat took in the indescribable air that followed him, not a smell, per se, but just a feeling that could be sensed in the air.

But he would never be able to sleep unless he explained it. So he did. And Dave, Dave listened to every word, not stopping or interrupting, his hands tracing circles on Karkat’s chest. Karkat found that with each thing he would describe… well, it was still horrifying and terrible, but it just didn’t feel as awful anymore. He felt… secure.

He ended his telling after covering all he could remember, taking another deep breath. Dave hummed softly, kissing the edge of Karkat’s ear. Karkat blushed ever so slightly, but it wasn’t noticeable in the dark. “That sounds messed up, Kitkat.”

Karkat didn’t correct him this time. “It kinda really was.”

“I can’t tell y’what it means-”

“Don’t want you to-”

“Well that’s good.” Karkat could feel his grin without even needing to see it. “... I’m glad you came to me. I’m sorry I can’t help more, but I’m here for you, at least.”

 

And he was. He’d been rudely woken late at night, ranted at, and forced to share a bed for the night over a single dream. And despite it all… He held Karkat closer. Karkat… He didn’t know why, or how, or what caused any of it, except that he knew his night felt a million times better because he was with Dave.

And he also felt so very comfortable.

And so very tired.

 

He yawned, snuggling closer against Dave’s chest. Dave chuckled, a feeling Karkat longed to get familiar with. “I’ll be here in the morning,” Dave whispered.

“Good… Thank you, Dave.” Karkat allowed himself another smile - he’d been doing that so much more recently - as his eyes began to droop. Sleep took him quickly now, his breathing going steady.

Dave stayed awake a few moments longer, shutting his eyes and savoring the troll’s scent, the sight of him, the feeling of him against his body… He sighed softly, happily.

“No place I’d rather be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bring the gift of another chapter for Christmas! Stayed up extra late to get this out for you. Hope you enjoy. :)
> 
> Feel free to check me out at davetellhimaboutthequadrants.tumblr.com, or if you'd like to see my more public, more all inclusive tumblr, check out misssugarpinkshome.tumblr.com! 
> 
> Also, fun fact: wrote this chapter and listened to this song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1jG99z7lVY) on loop and each time the narrative mentioned it, I added a tab playing the song on repeat progressively louder. I did that with a fan in the background. Have fun, kiddos!


	24. Ecto-Siblings: Engage In Time/Seer Bullshit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Turns out, when you're Ecto-Siblings, it seems you share a lot more than just genetics. You also share some piss poor goddamn nightmares.
> 
> Just how long until this hell-ride is over?

“So you’re saying that this is _normal?_ ”

Rose sipped her lackluster coffee, nodding. Karkat groaned, rubbing his face. Dave patted his shoulder, hand wrapped around in the most cliched romantic gesture he could think of. “‘Least you've got an explanation now, right Karkles?”

“Yeah, but that means these shitty dreams aren't going to stop.” He looked back up at Rose, frowning. “That's right, right?”

“Sadly, yes.” Rose sat her coffee on the table, brows furrowing. “It seems that passing through dream bubbles does induce heightened dream activity; long story short, everyone’s been having more dreams - and, by probability, more nightmares - because we’re in the Medium.”

“So why do I keep waking up the shitty side of the dream bed? These nightmares are plaguing the only hours of peace I have.”

“No wonder you’re always so crabby.”

“Shut up, Strider.”

“See? Point, being made.” 

Rose cleared her throat. “To answer your question, you aren't the only one having nightmares, or dreams. You just seem to have more of them, more than likely because of the amount of time you’ve poured into this game. You’ve been playing far longer than the rest of us, after all, and went quite a long time without any sleep.”

“I did what was needed.” Karkat frowned, crossing his arms. “Do we know when this’ll finally be over? Like, when I can finally have a good nights rest without waking up feeling like I'm covered in blood and wriggler tears?” 

Rose looked at Dave. “Er… Dave? You’re better at watching the time than I am.”

“Lalonde, was that meant to be a pun? Low, Rose. I’d expect that from John, but from you, it's almost hurtful.”

“Just answer the question, bulgesack.”

“Hey, I'll have you know I have never sucked any bulge in my life!”

“That's a relief,” Rose muttered, sarcasm dripping from her voice. Karkat chose to remain silent. “Just answer the question, Dave.”

Dave sighed. “Y’all’re no fun.” He stretched out, looking at his bare arm as though looking at a watch. “Well, according to fuck knows and shit why’d’y’askme, along with my shitty sleeping habits, I’d say…” He frowned, actually seriously thinking. “It's been about 2 years.”

Rose sighed. “So… about a year to go then.”

Karkat groaned, letting his face fall into the table. “You mean we still have a third of our journey to go through?” He asked, muffled.

“Maybe a little less,” Dave said. “It's hard to keep complete track of time, what with no sun or moon for the days. I’m basin’ this on pretty much sheer guesswork.” He rubbed his neck softly, biting the inside of his cheek gingerly. “You can probably give or take a few days. Maybe a whole week?”

“Still. It's going to be a long time of nightmares.” Karkat rubbed his face, flashbacks of last nights dream coming to mind. It didn't contain the same horror it had, thankfully, but remembering what had happened was still not fantastic. “There's gotta be some way to prevent them.”

“I dunno, have you tried not reading right before bed? Or maybe keeping a semi-regular sleep schedule?”

“Says the moron who sleeps 14 hours a day!”

“Hey, I’m just catching up to everyone else,” Dave said, gesturing lightly with his hands as though angry. His smirk betrayed his happiness, however. 

“Oh, both of you, stop it.” Rose sat back, lost in thought as she watched Dave and Karkat squabble. “I will say that the dreams got better for me when I started sleeping beside Kanaya. Proximity to a loved one is a comfort for most.”

Dave rose a brow. “Wait, wait - you and Kanaya sleep together?”

Rose rubbed her face, sighing. “Discounting the sexual innuendo underlying that phrase, yes, we do. It’s far more comfortable.”

Dave’s eyes narrowed and he smirked. “You use her as a reading light, don’t you?”

“ _Dave_.”

“She is right though, Dave.” They both looked to Karkat. “The nightmare last night got much better when I went to you with it.” He eyed Dave, a soft blush taking to his cheeks. “I, uh…” He cleared his throat. “Would you- Can we start sleeping together?”

Dave’s grin grew, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I mean, I certainly wouldn’t mind-”

Karkat pushed him over, blushing further. “Fuck off, Strider.” Dave just laughed. “You know what I meant.”

“Yeah, and like I said, I don’t mind.” Dave straightened himself in his chair, smiling at Karkat. “You’re hella comfy to snuggle up with anyways.” He put his arm around the still blushing troll, pulling him close.

Karkat squirmed, grumbling. Rose couldn’t help but smile at the sight; it was cute, after all. Karkat settled down, looking back at them both. “So, one last thing. You said I’m not the only one having nightmares. I guess mine are pretty awful, but what about you guys? I don’t hear you guys waking up late at night ready to scream.”

Rose blinked, glancing at Dave just as he looked back at her. “Er… Dying, I suppose,” she said quickly. “Lots of dying.”

“Puppets,” Dave said with a shrug.

“Weird… Mine are symbolic bullshit,” Karkat said. He rubbed his face. “Maybe it’s cause you two tiered and I didn’t.”

“Must be,” Dave said, still watching Rose.

“Indeed,” she agreed, watching Dave.

Neither was willing to discuss the nightmare they’d shared weeks ago.

 

*~*~*~

 

Years and years of waiting had led to this moment. Years of training and waiting and raising kids of all things, that had led to this. 

Dave landed next to Rose as he jumped off of his skateboard, fixing his shades as his balance shifted slightly. Being this tall was… odd in his mind, but it made sense. He was an adult, after all. Heh, how long had he been one of those?

Since he'd found his bro, he assumed.

 

“Heya,” he said in greeting, kicking the jetboard into his hands. She looks back at him, glancing over his outfit as he took in hers. The two couldn't be more different; one was dressed in a formal, lacy gown, lilac mostly in color, whereas Dave had slipped on his usual outfit. Truly, the only similarity between the two seemed to be the bloodstains on them both. “Geez, if I'd known this was gonna formal, I’d’ve worn a fuckin’ tie.”

“I think you’ll be fine,” Rose said with a soft smile, rubbing down her knitting needles with a handkerchief. “Though, is this really how you want to be remembered? A grown man in skinny jeans and a shirt that barely fits him, looking like you live on pennies and string?”

“Pfft, please, Lalonde. I’m gonna be remembered as a god.” He grinned, fanning out his hands in front of him in a wide spread. “David Strider, creator of Sweet Bro and Hella Jeff, unguided artist with a streak of anarchic tendencies, was found dead beside random house-woman. It's exactly how I want to be remembered.” 

Rose rolled her eyes, examining her needles with care. “I would hope I would be recognized for my writing, though… I hope we’re both recognized for more than that.” 

Dave's face grew more serious. He put a hand on her shoulder, lowering his sunglasses to look at her without obstruction. “Rose. We’re gonna live in goddamn infamy for this.”

“And what about Dirk? Roxa-”

“Roxy and Dirk will be fine,” he said, smiling with bittersweet happiness shining in his eyes. “We were better at being parents than they were, Rose. They'll grow up knowing what needs to be done. That's all we can hope for.”

Rose sighed, looking up as something came over them, shadowing the building on which they stood. Nowhere near either of their hometowns. The blazing red airship slowed above them. They saw a figure at the open door drop down. “It seems it’s time.”

Dave smirked, looking up. “Betcha she’ll use fish puns.” 

“Dave, is now really the time?”

“HELL yeah!” He grinned at her, laughing. “We gotta have some fun with this. Like, you wanna go down in history as a grump? Nah, I think this’ll be way better. Yeah, go down like my man Barack, sayin’ the stuff he always wanted to say-”

Before them, a figure landed, clad in royal gold and purple, grey skin shining as the airship moved, letting the sunlight glint off of her jewels. Her deep purple eyes narrowed and her fanged smile grew. “The point, Dave. Get to it.”

“Easy, Lalonde, it's exactly what my man Barack would say.” 

He pushed his sunglasses back up on his nose, signature smirk on his lips. 

“Let’s _wreck their shit_.” 

 

 **WR** E **CK TH** EI **R SH** I **T**  
(2+2+1+2+2 + 2+2+1+1+2 + 2+2+1+2 = 24 % 10 = 4)

 

He held out his hand in a practiced pose and caught his **SH** A **RP** I **MPL** E **M** E **NT** (2+2+1+2+2 + 1+2+2+2+1+2+1+2+2 = 24 % 10 = 4) as it deployed from his sylladex. He swung it around in order to have it at the ready when the batterwitch decided to finally attack. “You ready, motherfucker?”

“Must you be so dramatic?” Rose, despite the question, readied her stance as well, eyes narrowing. 

“Always.”

In a few short moments, the battle began.

 

And, in a few short moments, the battle was done.

 

Perhaps it had taken longer; he felt exhausted, after all, and that didn’t happen unless he had been thoroughly beaten up. Like, full on, ass kicked to the moon, let his body be buried in moon dust and martian shit, beaten up. But to his eyes, after the life he’d led, it had felt like a blink and he was down. 

 

He was already down.

 

How had that happened?

 

He wasn’t thinking clearly; he’d been hit hard in the head. His shades had been thrown clean off his face in battle, destroyed by the Condesce. His eyes narrowed against the sunlight as he turned his head slightly, looking at the prone figure beside him. “R… Rose?”

The woman coughed, blood staining her lips. “Dave…” She looked upset. Understandable, given the wound in her chest, bleeding profusely. 

“What’s up, Lalonde?” He asked with a small smile, trying to ignore the ache in his entire body. 

“Might I… confess something… of a personal nature?”

 

“Shoot.”

 

“I…” She smiled, tears shining in her eyes as she watched him. “I think… I may be afraid… afraid to die?” 

 

Dave laughed softly, coughing afterwards, wincing in pain. God, everything hurt. It’d been a long time since his body had hurt like that; memories of strifes with his brother, all those years ago, flashed before his eyes. Heh. Did this hurt less or more than it had then? He couldn’t tell. “Who isn’t, Lalonde?”

 

“T-This is serious, David,” she said, starting to shift slightly as she attempted to sit up. “We’re… going to die.” She suddenly froze, tears rolling down her face. “... I’m going to die.”

 

Dave’s eyes widened as a figure came up behind his broken friend. He reached out in surprise. “ROSE!”

 

The Empress grinned as she stabbed her trident through Rose’s chest, causing her to shriek sharply, a sound that made Dave feel a surge of energy. He quickly pushed himself to a standing position, grabbing the sword that had fallen as he did. Rose fell, limp, to the ground. “Rose, c’mon!” He lunged forward with a guttural sound rising in his throat, raising his sword. The Empress laughed as she pulled her weapon back out of Rose’s body and swung it, catching Dave in his chest. He was far too exhausted, far too weak, and far too disoriented to dodge properly. He stumbled back from the blow, glancing up at his enemy.

She grinned at him. “You two fought bravely,” she said, putting her free hand on her hip. “But lil’ buoys and gurls like you needa learn when to quit.” Dave gasped as she grabbed him with whatever magic she seemed to posses, pulling him up into the air. He tripped to grip his sword, but whatever she was doing to him forced his hand to relax, letting his sword drop to the ground.

She walked up close to him, twisting his head around after grabbing his chin. “Hmm… Shame, too. Woulda made a real nice slave, maybe a yellow blood if it finned out.”

 

Dave spat in her face.

 

The Empress blinked, recoiling and snarling as she wiped off her face. “Buoy, you did NOT. Y’almost had me on your good side. You and dat lil’ fish-”

“L-Lil’ what?” Dave strained to ask. “Is t-that a fuckin’ pun-”

Her hand reached out, wrapping around his throat, cutting off the air. He groaned, trying to breathe and failing. So this is what choking felt like. 

“S’ what I get, lettin’ you talk shit.” She drew him closer, eyes narrowing as she watched him. “Now you an’ dat lil’ _bitch_ are outta my way.” Her anger seemed to subside ever so slightly, ebbing away (Dave would’ve laughed at the pun if he wasn’t slowly blacking out) as a small smile took to her lips. “But don’ worry, knighty.”

“You’ll be joinin’ your gurl _reel_ soon.”

 

Dave gasped, clasping a hand over his mouth before he screamed, hand darting out to grab the sword by his bed - the sword that wasn’t there. Because this was the meteor. This wasn’t home, this was the meteor, with Karkat and Kanaya and Ro-

 _Rose_.

He flipped off the covers, grabbing a pair of boxers off the floor, stumbling into them even as he was running down the hallway, bare feet chilled by the tiles. He ran as fast as he could, turning the corner and hearing footsteps coming his way.

_Rose is dead._

“Not fuckin’ likely, she ain’t fuckin’ dead, she’s alive, she’s alive-”

He kept muttering those words under his breath as he went to the source of the sound. He dodged past stray cans and a couple horns (Gamzee had been around recently but fuck if he cared at the moment). The sound got closer and closer, he could hear fast breathing and it didn’t sound the same as his, but he heard that too, and he rounded another corner and-

 _Rose_.

She was crying.

 

Rose was alive and she was crying.

“Rose-” was all he managed to whisper before he was grabbed, hugged fiercely by the crying girl. “Woah.” He hesitated before putting his arms around her, soothingly rubbing her back. She sobbed into his chest, taking deep breaths. “Hey, hey, shh… It’s alright. We’re here. It felt real, but this right here, this is real.”

“S-She died,” Rose said through her breathing. “I-I died, and then Mom died, and you died, and Dirk-”

“We know they didn’t,” Dave said softly, holding her tighter. “You saw ‘er. You saw her in your dreams, and thanks to Vriska’s freaky knowledge of John’s time bullshit, you know he’s coming with her. Dirk and Roxa-” He clears his throat. That… That was just part of the dream. “Dirk and Roxy will be fine,” he said, trying not to remember the fact that he had said almost the same exact thing in that nightmare.

Rose sniffed, wiping her face. “I… Dave, was… was that their timeline? Did we see what happened… t-to us?”

“Dunno. Don’t care. We’re us. Those guys - those adults - they’re way different than us.” Dave looked at her seriously. “It’s like Bro and Mom. Roxy isn’t Mom, just like you aren’t her mom.”

Rose nodded softly, slowly calming down. She sniffed again, blushing softly. “Oh… Goodness, look at us.” Dave glanced at himself (barely clothed) and Rose (wearing a lacy lilac nightgown that Kanaya likely gave her). He let out the hint of a laugh. “I apologize, this is… ridiculous-”

“I came lookin’ for you, remember?” She smiled softly. “Ecto-sibs gotta look out for each other.”

“Indeed.” She paused, pulling her hands up to her chest. “Thank you, Dave.”

“Don’t mention it.” He eyed her seriously. “And I mean that like literally. Let’s never mention this again. Let that nightmare fade to the dark recesses of your creepy fetishy psychoanalytical mind and never let it see the light of goddamn day again, Lalonde.” She giggled despite herself. Dave yawned. “We should sleep. It was just a dream. Those’ll probs keep happening while we’re out here in between hell-knows-where and heaven-was-5-miles-back.”

“The Medium, Dave.”

“Whatever.” He sighed. “You gonna be okay to sleep?”

She nodded. “Are you?”

“Totally.”

 

Neither slept much that night.

 

*~*~*~

 

“Well, at least some of us are getting normal sleep. Figures I would get the shit-stain of think-pan-slurries hen I nestled down at night. Another cherry on my wriggling-pastry.” Karkat yawned, standing. “I’m gonna pass out for awhile longer in your room, Dave.”

That tore him out of his thoughts. “What? Why my room?”

“Your bed is comfier. All I have are puppets and stuffed animals. No thanks.” Karkat waved as he left the table. “Later.”

Dave sighed as Karkat left. Whatever, the douche would sleep better in his bed anyways. Who would even sleep on puppets (where did he even keep getting them)? He caught Rose’s stare. “What is it?”

“Just finding a small bit of joy in the fact that you two decided to snuggle.”

“Oh, grow up, Lalonde.”

“You first, _David_.”

 

Sigh. He was really going to need a long vacation when this fucking game was done.


	25. Dave: Have Just Shower Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Showers can be fun, as Dave attempts to explain to a confused Karkat after a night of heated bed-time.

Loved ones often snuggle up at the end of a long day, one wrapped around the other in a tender embrace. There's no lack of comfort in these ideal times, cuddled together under warm blankets and both partners feeling content with the other. In every romance Karkat had ever watched or read, a snuggling pair was the epitome of happiness.

Karkat was less than thrilled with the blatant misrepresentation of bedroom snuggles.

“Dave?”

“ _Mnnh._ ”

“Dave.”

“ _Whaaat_?”

“I don't know if you know this… but you sweat more than Equuis in a maid outfit in a sea of horses, high bloods, and lukewarm custodian milk.”

Dave groaned, pulling away from Karkat to stare at the ceiling, immediately trying to shake that imagery out of his mind. Damn it, what was with his boyfriend’s fucking wordsmithery? Dave fanned himself off, sighing. The covers had long since been kicked away. It hadn't helped in the slightest. “Dude, it's not my fault that you're a hot box. What the fuck is with that?”

Karkat shifted to look at the ceiling as well, glaring at it as though it had caused the problems they were currently facing. “I mean, I'm not any hotter than usual.” He reached over tiredly to slap his hand over Dave’s mouth before he could say anything. “No. No innuendos, you cocksuck.”

Dave pushed Karkat’s hand away, glancing at him. “Dude, don’t put your hand on my mouth.” Karkat proceeded to do it again. Dave grunted in anger, pushing it off again. This quickly led to a slap fight. It also just as quickly ended; both of the boys were exhausted, after all. Dave finally sighed, settling down a bit. “Maybe I should just take a shower. Might help.”

“If it’ll mean I don’t stick to your chest, yes. Please.”

Dave rolled his eyes and stood, walking over to the side door - Karkat paid careful attention to the ceiling and not the limp dick between his boyfriend’s legs. He still wasn’t quite used to that. Why didn’t it just retract? So fucking creepy.

Dave opened the side door and walked into the bathroom. Karkat shut his eyes, ready to just doze off, when he heard a shockingly girlish scream from Dave. His eyes shot open. “Dave?!”

“WHAT THE MOTHERFUCK IS THIS LIL’ SHIT DOIN’ IN HERE?!” Karkat ducked as a smuppet went sailing above his head. It landed in his lap, booty popping. Karkat scrunched up his nose. What _was_ this thing doing in there? He picked it up and looked it in the eyes.

… Yep. These things were still weird as hell to him.

Dave walked out of the bathroom, face a mask of disgust. “Why? Just, why!?”

Karkat rolled his eyes, tossing the smuppet aside. It bounced on the floor, soft plush caressing the tile. Okay, _really fucking creepy_. “You leave your door unlocked. Probably Rose or Terezi playing a prank on you. More than likely, it was Terezi.”

Dave sighed, rubbing his face, grumbling. “Well if there’s anything to ruin my night, that’s it.” He took a deep breath, reaching down and grabbing the smuppet by it’s neck. It made a little squeak. He shuddered and tossed it into his closet. “Get in there, y’lil’ freak.”

Karkat smiled a bit. “Your accent is coming out again.”

“Fuck.” Dave crossed his arms, a faint blush on his cheeks. Karkat barked out a laugh. “Oh, you can shut it, nubby.” He walked back into the bathroom. Karkat soon heard the shower running. He shut his eyes, sighing. Maybe while Dave showered he would be able to get some rest?

He opened his eyes again as he heard it.

“ _As I was walking down the street one day_ ~”

… Was he seriously-

“ _A man came up and asked me what the time was that was on my watch, yeah_ ~”

He was fucking-

“ _And I saaaid-_ ”

“DAVE MOTHERFUCKING STRIDER, IF YOU DON’T SHUT YOUR MOUTH THIS INSTANT, I WILL FORCIBLY SHOVE MY FIST SO FAR DOWN YOUR VERBAL TUBE THAT IT COME OUT YOUR WASTE CHUTE.”

There was a brief silence. 

 

“... Kinky!”

With a growl, Karkat sat up, standing and walking to the bathroom. Dave jumped, hands quickly covering his chest and crotch as Karkat pulled the shower curtain away. “Dude, what the fuck, I’m naked!”

“... You _literally_ sleep in the fucking buff.”

“Yeah, but I’m showering!”

Karkat rolled his eyes, hands on his hips. “Look. Fuckwad. I’m trying to _sleep_. I don’t care if you’re showering. You’re my boyfriend. We’ve had sex. What I _do_ care about is my sleep. So, for the love of anything holy, _shut the fuck up and shower without singing_. Got it?”

Dave blinked, watching Karkat. The water was still running. He blinked the water out of his eyes and leaned against the wall of the shower. “Join me.”

Karkat let his hands fall. “What.”

“C’mon, shower with me, it’ll be better.”

“Dave, I don’t feel like-” Dave flicked his fingers at Karkat, sprinkling him with a tiny bit of water. “What? Stop it.” Dave did it again, snickering. “Stride-” More water was sent his way. He hissed under his breath, glaring. 

“C’mon, we can have some shower fun.”

Karkat shook his head, wiping the last remaining bits of water off of his face. “Nothing about showers is fun, Dave. All that happens is you get wet and wash yourself.”

Dave rolled his eyes, looking skyward. “Lord, give me strength.” He looked at Karkat seriously. “Shower sex, Karkles.”

Karkat raised a brow and pointedly looked at the shower. “... Dave.”

“Yeah?”

“Have you been eating sopor? Because your thinkpan seems to have rotted to the point that an idea like that somehow makes logical sense.” Dave was laughing by that point, grinning. “Strider, this is no laughing matter. The slurry of thought has been corrupted so much that you somehow think that the box of slippery, tiled hell that is called a shower could somehow accommodate both of us having sex.” Karkat crossed his arms, frowning firmly.

Dave shook his head, trying to calm his laughter. “Shower sex is very popular with humans, Kitkat. All that slippery skin, all the heat of the water-”

“All the possibilities of slipping and falling, all the water in my eyes, not to mention the fact that you're trying to get _clean_ , and having sex is kind of counterproductive to that.” Karkat rolled his eyes, turning his back on Dave. “I’m going back to bed. Just shower, you jerk.”

“Fine, fine. Oh, and Kitkat?”

Sigh. He didn’t turn around, arms crossed. “ _What?_ ”

“Nice ass.”

Karkat felt his cheeks start to heat up. Shit, he was- Oh, that fucking- Karkat breathed in and glanced back. Dave was leaning against the wall of the shower, arms crossed over his chest, a cocky grin on his face. Karkat allowed himself a displeased grimace as he looked Strider up and down. His eyes paused as he noticed Dave was already getting hard. He looked Dave dead in the eye. “At least one of us can provide a good view.”

 

Daves eyes widened.

Karkat allowed himself a smile now. “Gotcha.”

Dave opened his mouth to reply, but no sound came out. He was still processing that sick fire of a different type. Karkat just walked back to the bedroom, collapsing on the bed. He wanted his fucking sleep.

Dave blinked. He felt the water on his skin. But damn. It did not help that burn.

He shook his head and let himself smile. 

“Fuck. That was great.” 

His smile grew. Goddamn it, he was so fucking in love, that didn’t bother him. What Karkat had said was _funny_ , damn it. In the past, he would’ve taken offense to that, but all he could see now was Karkat’s little grin before he said ’gotcha’. And, well, it was obvious to him that Karkat had been joking - you don’t have that much sexual tension with someone who you don’t think is attractive. 

He shut his eyes and started showering, trying briefly to ignore the little butterflies in his chest. It didn’t work in the slightest.

 

Dave did keep quiet as he showered, just for the sake of Karkat’s sleep, meaning he got out of the shower faster than he normally would. Back home, he never took very long showers - too long in the enclosed space was just like presenting himself on a platter for his brother’s tricks. Here on the meteor, though, he had all the time in the world. All the time in the world to soak in the steam, the ease, and the thoughts.

There was nothing, absolutely nothing, like a warm shower. Granted, he was hotter than fucking jupiter or some shit, whichever one was closest to the sun, so it wasn’t _too_ warm a shower. But, it was still warm enough to create some steam. Dave could feel the tension in his back starting to ease out of him as the water just… relaxed. 

He leaned his head forward under the stream of water, feeling it drip down his face. _When did this all get so weird?_

So that was the starting question tonight. Honestly, he should’ve guessed. He grinned under the shower head, eyes closed to avoid getting water in them. It was pretty easy to tell when it all got so… different. That day with Karkat, the day when everything finally broke, and they… Well. 

It was so weird. He still… wasn’t sure about everything. For one thing, Karkat was obviously still touchy about not knowing what ‘quadrant’ they were in, even though Dave knew like with 900% certainty that Karkat was head over horns in human love with him. Still, that would cause some fuckin’ conflict, right? 

For another thing, he’d never really done this shit properly. Sure, TZ was a sweet thing for a little while there, but they never dated. They were just friends. At one point, she had mentioned something about doomed timelines and romances, but he just sorta looked over that stuff. He saw enough in his dreams about dead selves and alternate timelines, no need to hear more about it. It had plagued him for too long. Like, seeing your dead self so many times just kinda layin’ around cause he wanted to die or did die or some shit-

What had he been thinking about again?

Oh, right, TZ. He had never been with her, not really, and beyond her, there had never been anyone. Sure, he had friends, but Karkat was _very fucking much more_ than a friend, and that was absolutely terrifying. Part of him had this feeling that it wouldn’t last, and that it would end before anything really started. But that wasn’t the bad part. The bad part was that he was okay with that; he would be chill if they broke up.

But he was almost positive Karkat wouldn’t be.

 

He shook his head with a sigh. The simple fact of the matter was… he honestly had no idea what he was doing. And, like, it wasn't like he always knew what he was doing - far from it. He had to go on the fly petty fucking often. He was a time player, for fuck’s sake, of course he had to do shit on the fly. But whenever he could, he would always plan what had to be done next. He tried to work out the contingencies as they came.

But he couldn't with Karkat. He couldn't plan ahead. He just had to roll with anything that came his way and see what came next.

And that was terrifying. 

 

He turned off the water, stepping out onto the bathroom tiles. He shuddered. “Fuck, that's brisk.” He quickly grabbed a towel, drying himself off, happy to see his body had ‘calmed down’ a bit. Seriously, fuck puberty and hormones and shit. 

He walked out, seeing Karkat peacefully asleep on the bed, already drooling up a storm on the pillow. Dave couldn’t help but smile. Yeah, okay, he had it bad, that fucker was seriously cute. Stretching, Dave slowly worked his way into the bed, snuggling up next to Karkat. 

He was immediately warming up again (though the shower had definitely helped him), resting his head next to Karkat’s, kissing the bony tip of his spine. Karkat shivered a tiny bit, his back shifting closer into Dave’s chest, obviously not quite as asleep as Dave first thought. “Done my shower,” he whispered.

Karkat scoffed lightly. “No, really? I thought you were still in there.”

“Oh yeah? So who was kissing your bony ass back?”

“I dunno, Gamzee or something.” 

Dave choked on his breath before breaking down into laughter. Karkat couldn’t help but allow himself yet another small smile. “W-What the fuck,” Dave managed to breathe out. “Why him of all people?”

“I dunno, just thought it was the most unlikely of anyone.”

“Oh yeah, because Vriska would be all up on you, you handsome devil.” 

“Urgh. Strider, don’t give me that mental image before bed. I’ll have nightmares.” 

Both of them shared a few more chuckles over the brief conversation. Dave kissed Karkat’s back again, smiling as he heard Karkat purr softly. God, that was adorable. He wasn’t sure what about it appealed to him - maybe just the sound of proof that he’s enjoying himself. Karkat snuggled a bit closer to him, ass grinding against Dave’s crotch. He sighed against Karkat, chuckling very softly. “You’re gonna make me hard again, Kitkat.”

“Ugh. Again?” Karkat scrunched up his nose. “What the fuck is with human bodies. First, your bulge doesn’t retract, and then, it actually extends further all the time. It’s so weird.”

“Humans’ve got a bunch of organs and shit inside, there’s no room for my dick inside me.” Dave grinned a bit. “Though, I guess there’s room in me for _you_ dick.”

Karkat twisted slightly in Dave’s grasp to turn and look at him. “What?”

“Asses.” Dave blinked, looking thoughtful. “And, I mean, I guess my mouth is open an’ all-”

“Wait, so… Humans actually put things up their wastechutes? That’s a thing?!”

“Duh? Dude, I read you that book, that’s a legit thing.”

“I thought that book was fantasy!”

“Well, yeah, but it was realistic fantasy!”

Karkat scrunched up his nose, looking sick. “Gross…” He raised a brow. “Would… Do YOU want-”

“Let’s not talk about that right now,” Dave said quickly, blushing very softly in the dark room. Karkat snorted slightly. “Oh, c’mon, shut up before I bite you.”

“But you’re into that.”

“Let’s just get to sleep.”

“Fine, fine.” Karkat snuggled his chest against Dave’s, still facing him. He let his forehead rest against Dave’s, sighing. “Sleep well, bulgesuck.”

“You too, nookwhiff.” Dave pushed forward lightly, kissing Karkat softly. Karkat’s eyes widened a bit but he shut them, losing himself in the kiss.

They let themselves enjoy this moment before separating to enjoy the next. And then they let themselves rest. It was much easier this time around. Later, Karkat would have to admit to himself… While movies and novels definitely romanticized snuggles, it was still nice in real life too. 

Especially with Strider.

 

*~*~*~

 

When he opened his eyes, his hand immediately grabbed the sword next to him and flipped it up, shielding his throat from the downward strike that would have killed him. It lasted a brief second only, the strength he had to expend to keep the blades in contact, and then it was all gone.

Dave Strider sighed, grabbing his shades to shield from the lights in the room. 

Time to start the day.

 

He kept his sword in his strife specibus, ready to wield it whenever. He stood, locking the door again. His bro had figured out how to pick locks a long time ago - Dave had no idea when or where, but he knew it was probably for the wrong reasons - so locking it did very little. But sometimes it would make his bro leave him alone for a little while.

He reached into the closet and grabbed some Doritos from his stash of food. It was running low. He would have to make a kitchen run sometime soon. That would be an adventure, but he wouldn’t worry about it yet today. No sense lettin’ that mess with him now.

He logged onto his computer, checking to see if anyone was on. Of course, no one was - it was the ass crack of dawn. It was just his luck that no one would be awake just yet. Nothing to distract him on Pesterchum.

He would just have to amuse himself. Music making usually did that. Losing himself in tunes, distracting himself… He got off the laptop and turned to go to his music tables.

_**FUCK**_.

 

Dave jumped back, surprised, but quickly forced himself to be still. Lil’ Cal was just… just chilling on his tables. That was completely fine. He let himself smile a tiny bit, trying to get his heart to chill the fuck out. “Heya, buddy,” he said, taking a soft breath. Cal just smiled. He walked up and grabbed Cal’s arm - it felt warm, unnaturally warm - and lifted his fist. He bumped it, allowing himself a small- 

_laugh, laughter, filling his ears as he was burning, everything was burning, the world was clockwork and heat and lava and someone was laughing, he was laughing and dying and burning alive-_

Dave dropped Cal, pulling away sharply.

… That was weird. Like, really weird. God that was actually mildly terrifying, time to swallow that shit down and repress it. Dave turned to walk to his photography string instead - let Cal play the music, y’know? He would just go to his photos and chill. 

But Cal was hanging from the wires now. 

 

_**h** ee **h** ee **h** ee_

 

Dave took a step back towards his door. He backed up against it and turned the knob.

It was unlocked. Had Cal unlocked… no. Nah, nah, this was just his bro being… being bro. Freaky horror shit. That was all.

He opened it and walked outside, eyes never leaving Cal until the door broke his sight. He took a deep breath and turned.

 

His heart stopped.

His breathing slowed.

 

_hahaha_

 

Bro.

 

His eyes widened.

He fell to his knees, feeling the life drain out of him as he looked at his brother, lying there, sword through his chest, pinning his corpse to the ground.

 

Bro.

 

His shades were missing and Dave could see the pale amber of his brother’s eyes, the odd coloration that he had never seen anywhere else. It was almost orange. The blood was staining his bro’s lips, splattered across his face, all over his body.

Bro was-

 

He shuddered, trying to breathe. He couldn’t.

He heard something in his ear, like the ping of a bell, an alert- And there was something else, something was coming, something would stop him, but he couldn’t move already. He couldn’t move, not-

Bro was… Oh god. Oh god, what had… He was…

Bro was all he fucking had. Bro was all he ever- No. No, he had John. Jade, Rose. Ha- TZ was with him now, he had fucking friends here, he had people- they would die- no, no no, they wouldn’t. He was going to stop that-

Get that fucking sword out of his body, for god’s sake.

 

He reached out to grab it.

A soft, felt hand grabbed his arm.

He tensed up, his mouth opening to scream. Something covered his mouth. Soft. Felt.

 

_**h** ee **h** ee_

He heard laughter in his ear and strings grabbed him. Choking him. He couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t scream. He wanted to. His neck was bleeding. His bro was dead. He was gone. Secret was free, secret was out, and it didn’t make any difference. It was all over.

Cal had him. He was gonna die.

He heard a hideous scream. An echoing scream.

And it was all white. 

And in that whiteness, as all the blood was gone, and he was a ghost - he knew he was a ghost, his eyes were white, nothing was there, it was all gone - and he saw someone.

Bro.

 

Bro grinned. His body was torn, split apart, his chest split open from the sword wound. He was holding it now, his blood soaking the katana. He lifted his chin in a practiced motion, and had he been wearing his shades, there would have been a glint of sunshine in them; but instead, the orange glow of his eyes seemed to sparkle in his manic smile.

 

**Strife.**

 

Dave sat up, a scream in his mouth threatening to sound itself, his hand reaching out immediately to get his sword. But nothing was there. His hand went up to block his throat, to dig the wires out of his skin- there wasn’t anything there.

“Dave?”

Dave jumped, gasping, the scream he had been barely holding back finally escaping in a quick burst. Karkat sat up a bit, surprised. Dave took a deep breath, or at least tried, his heart was still racing, his breathing was weird right now.

“Shit. Nightmare.”

Dave nodded quickly, the hand still on the bed clenching into the sheets. Karkat hissed softly, surprising Dave - if he had his wits about him, he would be talking about that, remarking on it, but he couldn’t right now - before grabbing Dave’s arm. Dave flinched, bad touch, bad _fucking_ touch- and then Karkat was holding him and it was so much better and then-

_Fuck_. He was crying. 

“Shoosh, shoosh, I’ve got you…” Karkat whispered softly, rubbing circles over Dave’s back. Dave shuddered - the feeling of pressure against his old scars was almost indescribable… But it was comforting. He took another shuddering breath. “Just breathe, I’ve got you.”

“K-Karkles-” His voice cracked slightly, fuck, why was he this messed up, he shouldn’t be this fucked up because of a nightmare-

“Shoosh.” Karkat moved his hand up to Dave’s hair, gently running his hand through it. Dave took a sharp breath at the touch, leaning his head into Karkat’s shoulder. Karkat just kept the movements going, letting Dave feel sensations, good ones, comforting ones. He just knew what to do. Despite the gasps, the racing heartbeat, everything that was making him just freak out… This was helping.

 

Dave slowly, slowly began to calm down. Just slightly. Slowly, minutes at a time. Karkat smiled as he finally felt Dave’s breathing slow. “There you go. I’ve got you, Strider.”

He took a deep breath, relaxing more as he realized he wasn’t shaking or shuddering anymore. “T-Thanks,” he said, voice slowly coming back to normal.

“Always.” Karkat looked at him seriously, scowling. “Now, what the fuck got you so messed up?”

Dave licked his lips. “Puppets. Bro. A lot of shit.”

“You can tell me about it-”

“To be real, Karkles, I don’t really want to relieve it all right now.” Karkat looked a bit shocked at the interruption, but nodded. “I just… I just want to hold you.”

“Alright.” Karkat leaned forward, kissing him softly. Dave shut his eyes, trying to forget the fact that his face was covered in tears still. The kiss was nice despite it all. He pulled away a few moments later, grabbing a tissue and wiping his face before blowing his nose. Karkat settled back into sleep.

Dave curled up next to him, holding him tightly. He sighed and shut his eyes. Even holding Karkat here, even ready to sleep, after that dream…

Dave couldn’t help but feel that shit was about to get fucked. Again.

 

He wasn’t looking forward to that moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out to you all, but here you all are as a happy 4/13 upd8, an extra long chapter. Hope you enjoy!


	26. Dave: Get Into Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruminating on your nightmares tends to make you jumpy. That's not a good thing during a clown hunt.

“Okay, who's gonna help me go on a clown hunt?”

 

That’s what started this mess off a day. Well, not start - the start was Dave cuddling his boyfriend - a word that still made his heart rush a little - after an awful night. The start was kissing Karkat awake, listening to his little grumbles and mutterings about how he didn’t want any of that lovey dovey bullshit. What a liar. The start was getting dressed with Karkat complaining about how Dave’s dick ground into his ass in the morning, and Dave explaining the concept of morning wood. He almost convinced Karkat that his cock was made of bark. Almost.

But then, as soon as they went to get breakfast, Vriska was there. And she called a group meeting.

“What’d Gamzee do now?” Dave asked grumpily. 

Kanaya frowned, sitting next to Rose. “A hunt implies that you do not know his location.”

“We don't.” Vriska sounded, oddly enough, just as excited as she was clearly frustrated. “Terezi and I were doing some spelunking-”

“When aren't you?” Karkat chimed in, crossing his arms. 

“Don't interrupt people, Karkat. It's rude.” He frowned but let the matter drop immediately. “Like I was saying, we were spelunking and found this.” She pulled Gamzee’s bell out of her pocket. 

Everyone stared at it for a second.

Dave sighed. 

“Goddamn it.”

 

That, _that_ was the thing that started what Dave was officially deeming a bad day. Vriska split everyone into groups easily - not like there was many ways to split everyone up, other than the way everyone split up already. Rose and Kanaya, Terezi and Vriska, and Dave and Karkat. Clearly, Gamzee didn't have his bell, which could mean one of two things - either the pathetic juggalo had gone somewhere that made the bell tug off of his neck, or he took it off himself. 

Everyone was sort of hoping for the first option, but honestly, no one believed that was the case. Expecting the worse had kept them alive this long, after all.

And so, everyone went their separate ways. Vriska and TZ took the inner workings of the meteor, which worked out great, seeing as they spent all their time there usually. Rose and Kanaya would take the living areas. 

And Karkat and Dave…

Ugh.

“ACHOO- OW!” Dave groaned, sniffing as he held his head. He coughed a bit on the dust, wincing. “Fuckin’ claustrophobic… HEADS UP KARKLES!” 

Dave squirmed backwards out of the vent slowly, feeling much better, definitely _so_ much better when Vantas grabbed his ankles and helped tug him out of the air vent they’d just barely started investigating. He gasped (which made him inevitably breathe in more dust) as he suddenly was pulled out and immediately fell on top of Karkat.

Cue an angry troll with a coughing human on top of him. “Strider, get off of me!” 

“J-Just-” More coughing. “Gimmie a m-minut-” The coughing never ceased. Karkat groaned, pushing Dave off of him and standing, straightening his shirt in a huff. Dave sat up on the floor, pounding his fist to his chest as the coughing finally started to calm down. “Fuckin’ Christ…”

“Dave, don't rely on fictional characters to express yourself.” Dave glanced back at Karkat, just looking confused and bitter. Karkat crossed his arms and shrugged, not looking much better.

Dave sighed, getting back to his feet, clearing his throat. “God. Okay. Yeah, no way he was in there, not with that many layers of dust to assault me. Unless he somehow managed to hide dust in there.” 

“Gamzee’s not really smart enough for that.” Karkat sighed. “How many vents does that make now?”

“Too fuckin’ many.” Dave rubbed his face, blinking. He wanted desperately to put on his shades, but he didn’t really want to make today worse. It’d been awhile since he had to wear them and he was taking pride in that accomplishment. Like, a lot of pride - it was a stupid goal but it felt like a victory. 

Karkat, of course, noticed how Dave rubbed at his eyes, and unlike Dave, he didn’t have a sense of victory over Strider’s suffering. His frown grew. “Put your shades on.”

“What? No.”

“Your eyes obviously hurt. I don't get why you torture yourself like this.” Karkat started walking further down the hallway with Dave close behind. “Just put them on and stop suffering.”

“Maybe I wanna suffer.”

Karkat rolled his eyes. “You complete dipshit. Maybe I want you to not suffer, do you get that? I sort of care about your well being and that junk.” 

Dave frowned. He hadn't thought about it through Karkles eyes before. Granted, he was a self-absorbed fuck, but… He guessed if he was in Karkat’s shoes and Karkat was in his, he would…

Completely respect Karkat’s wishes to be a complete idiot and continue to let him not wear shades.

He sighed. He was probably not as great a boyfriend then. Pride could be wounded for now, though, he didn’t want Karkat to be any unhappier that he already would be for what seemed to be shaping up as the next few hours. “Fine, alright? If it'll get you off my ass about it, I'll put on my shades.” 

He unhooked them from his shirt and slipped them on, blinking a bit as the pain immediately started to dissipate. Holy shit. That was a nice feeling. He allowed himself a small smile despite the inner well of disappointment he felt. The lights were easily bearable with these.

Karkat watched this and smirked. “Feel better?”

“Yeah. Thanks, Kitkat.”

His smirk immediately slipped into his usual scowl. “How many times do I have to say this for it to permanently etch itself into your startlingly small thinkpan? Don't call me Kitkat.”

“Aww, but I thought you liked chocolate.” Karkat flushed lightly and kept walking. Dave snickered at his reaction and walked behind him, blatantly checking out that ass. Should he go for the cheek grab? 

Hell fucking yes. He went for it, earning a startled yelp and a light smack to the back of his head. 

Worth it.

 

It was sort of incredible the difference his shades made. He didn't feel the pinprickly feeling behind his eyes, the fluorescents above him didn't seem as buzzy, and his mood was definitely improved. Still… he hated that he had to wear them just to feel better. All because of his fucking condition.

It really wasn’t fair. Well, Bro had always told him, life didn’t make it fair, you had to make it fair with your bare hands and maybe some metal. But that was usually what he said when Dave complained about the constant beatings.

Okay, not a good topic for rumination. 

But still. It wasn’t fair, and it never was going to be, that in the ectobiological slurry that was the bullshit of his birth, he had ended up a mutated kid with an abusive guardian who had a fetish for puppets. Maybe it wasn’t a fetish but at this point, you don’t know man. You just couldn’t know. 

“You okay?” Dave looked at Karkat. “You're zoning.”

“Just thinkin’.”

“About?”

He grinned. He was _not_ opening that can of worms on a clown hunt. “Well, I mean, that's the question isn't it? Like do you actually ever think about one thing at a time?” He started making grander gestures with his hands as Karkat rolled his eyes. “Like, I could be thinkin’ about how cute you are while I'm thinkin’ ‘bout, like, what the political climate on Earth would've been if it hadn't blown up-”

“Dave, what the everloving fuck-”

“No, legit though, haven't you ever wondered who the president would be?”

“No. Dave, we don't have presidents. I don't know what that is.”

Dave shook his head. “Damn, Karkles. You don't know the real sense of freedom til’ you have a figurehead running the country.”

“What?”

Dave patted him sadly on the back. “‘Murica,” he said mournfully. 

Karkat rubbed his face. Why? Why did he fall in love with this moron? Was there anywhere he could return it? Say ‘no thanks, I didn't realize he didn't have a common sense or coherently somewhat intelligent setting, take it back’. He sighed and looked back at Dave. “Look. Nonsensical ramblings aside, we need to focus. Where's the next vent?” 

Dave looked around and shrugged. “I think this hallway’s clear. Next one should be a hallway or two down from here, probs past the weird bio labs.” 

Karkat sighed. “Let’s go.” 

 

And so, they made their way in relative silence now, leaving Dave back with his thoughts. What’d he been thinking about? Oh yeah, how much he hates himself due to his upbringing. That’s a pretty normal thought process, right? Everyone hates themselves. Hell, just look at Karkles. 

Still. Ever since going on this journey, he’d been both more honest about it and… well. Less hating of himself. 

It felt like there really wasn’t any reason to hate himself. On one hand, there were plenty of reasons, he was an inconsiderate douche who had no idea how to interact with people, but on the other, he was an inconsiderate douche who had immense cosmic powers and an itty bitty living space.

He needed to stop watching Aladdin, fuck.

But the point still stood that he was using his immense powers for good. He was trying to create a universe. Save Troll kind. Granted, he didn’t give much of a fucking shit about if they all died or not, but he was kinda hoping they didn’t. Like it or not, he sort of liked the people he was with.

Especially Karkat.

Fuck, he really liked Karkat. A lot. He’d never felt this way for someone, what the fuck did he know about liking someone romantically? Sexually, sure, there’s lot of hot people out there, but a relationship wasn’t just sex unless you were friends with bennies.

He wanted more than that from Karkles.

 

… What exactly _did_ he want?

Love. Well, that was a pretty obvious answer, wasn’t it? Though at the same time, it carried a lot of complex shit with it, complex shit that he really didn’t know how to deal with, so he didn’t. Maybe… He wanted someone to cuddle. Yeah. That was nice. Cuddles and little kisses and…

And someone to hold him when the nights got a bit too rough.

He glanced at Karkat, grumpy faced Karkat with his scowl and a look that plainly said ‘I’m gonna kill this juggalo bastard if it turns out this is for nothing’. He looked royally pissed off, tired, a little dusty, and all in all just absolutely adorable apparently, cause Dave’s heart skipped a beat. What was it about that grumpy asshole that made him feel… 

Safe?

Karkat glanced at him curiously. “What’re you looking at?”

“You.”

“No shit, but what exactly? Do I have something in my teeth?” 

“Nah, you’re just being cute.” Karkat rolled his eyes, shaking his head. Dave just smirked and looked forward. God, he really was adorable when he was angry. He was always adorable, but when he was extra crabby, it was fantastic. Like that day when Dave had fallen asleep during one of Karkat’s favorite movies and drooled all over him, or that time when the May- “Oh fuck.”

Karkat stopped, hearing the intensity of Dave’s ‘oh fuck’ and immediately growing concerned. “What? What is it?”

“The Mayor.”

“What?”

Dave looked seriously at Karkat, gesturing. “The Mayor, all around great guy, lots of cans? Remember him? Well no one told him a possibly murderous juggalo might invade his city again.” Karkat raised a brow and opened his mouth to say something, but Dave slapped his hand over his mouth. Karkat looked displeased. “Look. I’m worried about him. We should go find him and make sure he’s safe.”

Karkat licked Dave’s hand, causing him to recoil and wipe it off. “One, ew. Ew ew ew wash your fucking hands, that’s disgusting. Second, I’m sure the Mayor is fine. I don’t want to take away from the search just to make sure Can Town is alright.”

“Fuck you, Can Town is the most important thing on this meteor!” It really wasn’t but damn it, Dave had forged a friendship with that guy and he wanted the Mayor to go far. He aggressively wiped his hand on his pants some more. Troll spit. Ew. “I’m gonna go look for him, Karkat.”

Karkat, with great precision that comes only from repeated experience and practice, gracefully and effortlessly allowed his palm to connect with his forehead with a resounding ‘slap’. “Fine. Fine, you go find Mayor. I’ll keep looking through the labs, alright?”

“Thanks, Kitkat.” As a show of goodwill, Dave grabbed Karkat’s shoulders and pulled him in for a fast kiss. Karkat’s eyes widened and he seemed even grumpier at having been taken off guard, but there was no time now. Dave Strider was on a fucking _mission_.

In a flash, he was gone, darting off through the hallways.

 

This, in retrospect, was a really dumb idea.

Dave wandered aimlessly, now and then shouting “Mayor! Mayor can you hear me? If you can, clap twice!” No response came, of course. Dave still, to this day, had no idea if the Mayor was capable of hearing, or at that, understanding English. 

That didn’t matter, though. Mayor was still a cool guy, a guy that Dave was very worried about. A guy he wanted to find soon so that nothing bad happened to him. Not that he thought something bad might happen, but the last time Gamzee had been unsupervised for a long period of time, he’d gone all Godzilla on Can Town. That did things to a man. The Mayor had been through hell. War, even. Dave wanted to spare him from that tragedy this time around.

He kept wandering, feeling a little silly. He probably should’ve just gone along with Kitkat. Though, the Mayor tended to stay up in the main areas, not deeper in the meteor. Still, wouldn’t he have seen the Mayor at some point?

As he was walking, he thought he heard footsteps behind him. When he turned around, nothing was there.

 

… Was this place always this creepy? Or was it just because he was alone while the troll that had killed a decent part of the remaining population was on the loose and possibility sentient?

… probably the former. Yeah. 

Or, well, he was probably just being paranoid. Last night’s dream had him on edge. That was why this place was creepy.

Dave whistled softly as he walked, putting his hands in his pockets. It's not like someone could sneak up on him, or if they did, he would totally be ready. He checked his specibus. Yeah, see? He had a weapon. He was ready.

But he couldn't help but feel watched. And that wasn't doing great things to his psyche. Especially after that dream last night. He’d still never told Karkat about it, just… reliving it. Bro. Cal. His throat felt tighter thinking about it.

He glanced up as he heard a sound, part of him already readying himself for an attack - God, why was he so on edge, so tense right now?

It was just the Mayor.

Dave sighed, relaxing and running up to the confused looking fella. He was probably wondering where everyone was. “Mayor! There you are. Gamzee got loose and we’re looking for him. Wanna come join me and Karkles?”

Dave could swear the Mayor looked ecstatic to join him and Karkat. “Hell yeah! Just-” And suddenly, the Mayor looked much less ecstatic and far more unhappy. He grabbed Dave and pointed behind him. Dave turned and looked.

 

Gamzee was grinning.

“honk.”

Dave blinked.

“.... shiiiit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who remembered how to write? It might be me. Or maybe it's you. Maybe YOU remembered how to write. Go to it, young author, be the star you always wanted to be.
> 
> Or maybe it's me. Sorry it took so long, but I'm finally hitting my creative streak. I'm also planning on rereading homestuck to get back into this fic. So maybe that'll help stop me from my Undertale craze!
> 
> Wanna chat? Head over to this [magical Tumblr place](https://davetellhimaboutthequadrants.tumblr.com/) where you can chat with me and see when I update! I also enjoy posting extra tid bits or character asks there. Thanks for sticking around without updates so long, and I hope to post more soon!


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